Delegations of the United States and Cuba on Monday in Washington discussed the implementation of immigration agreements and measures to combat trafficking, but not reach higher resolutions, informed the Cuban embassy in an official note.
AFP
The agenda of the high-level meeting focused on compliance "of existing agreements" on issues such as issuing visas to migrants and temporary visits and actions of the two sides to "confront illegal migration, human smuggling" and document fraud.
According to the embassy, at the meeting on the Cuban side he expressed "deep concern" over the "management of migration politicized issue regarding Cuba" by the US authorities.
In particular, the delegation referred to the life of the Cuban Adjustment Act (1966) and the policy of "dry feet-wet feet" that provide immigration benefits to Cubans who make it to US soil.
However, the diplomatic note stated that "the US delegation conveyed that his government does not intend to make changes in immigration policy that applies to Cuban citizens."
For the Cuban part, these policies "hinder normalization" of bilateral migratory relations, and "create problems to other countries in the region."
About 3,000 Cuban citizens are stranded in northern Costa Rica, mostly in makeshift shelters, with temporary visas waiting for them to find a way to continue their march to the United States.
The presence of this group of Cuban sparked a diplomatic crisis between the neighboring Costa Rica and Nicaragua, while prompting a meeting of foreign ministers in El Salvador in Central America, Mexico, Colombia and Ecuador to discuss the issue.
On the day a State Department spokesman said the United States intended to promote the meeting a discussion on how countries "can help fight smuggling that takes advantage of Cuban immigrants."
The spokeswoman Elizabeth Trudeau added that Washington's vision governments have a "sovereign right" to return to their countries of origin for migrants "who have a valid asylum claim or legal basis to stay in the country."
On Monday, Cuba asked the US side to hold a new round of discussions on migration issues in Havana in the first half of 2016.