By the Cuba Journal staff
Cuba and the United States will hold their third Bilateral Commission in Havana beginning next Monday, May 16, the US State Department announced.
US Secretary of State John Kerry has asked Ambassador Ambassador Kristie Kenney, the Counselor of the U.S. Department of State to lead the delegation.
In a statement, Kerry said he placed a “top priority on deepening our dialogue with the Government of Cuba, the primary mechanism for which is the Bilateral Commission.”
Kenney will be joined by Deputy Assistant Secretary John S. Creamer.
As has been the case since the beginning of talks, the Cuban delegation will be led by Josefina Vidal, the Foreign Ministry’s Director General for U.S. Affairs.
The US said the talks would “provide an opportunity to review progress on a number of shared priorities’ since the two sides last held talks in November 2015.
“The United States and Cuba expect to plan continued engagements on environmental protection, agriculture, law enforcement, health, migration, civil aviation, direct mail, maritime and port security, educational and cultural exchanges, telecommunications, trafficking in persons, regulatory issues, human rights, and claims for the remainder of 2016,” the US said.