US and Cuba set date for talks to normalize relations

On January 8, the administration of President Barack Obama announced that the first negotiations on normalizing relations between the US and Cuba will take place in mid-January.

According to the announcement of White House spokeswoman Jen Psaki, US Assistant Secretary of State for Latin America Roberta Jacobson will visit Cuba on January 21 and 22 to co-chair the first talks with Cuban colleagues on normalizing relations between the two countries.

Illustration photo. (Source: AP)

The visit and talks were originally planned to focus on immigration, but have now expanded to include concrete steps to normalize relations between the two neighboring countries.

The specific agenda of the talks is still being discussed by both sides, but it certainly includes the issue of reopening embassies in the two countries' capitals.

President Barack Obama's December 17 announcement to normalize relations with Cuba, after more than half a century of failed embargo, is considered a prominent political event in the context of the tense world situation in 2014.

This is the result of 18 months of secret negotiations between the two countries, with the direct involvement of Pope Francis I and the Canadian Government, starting in June 2013 and an unprecedented direct conversation lasting nearly an hour between President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro.

The decision to normalize US-Cuba relations was welcomed by the world community, supported by 67% of Americans, 60% of Cuban-Americans, and 90% of Cuban-American youth.

However, the biggest obstacle now is that some US Congressmen, mainly Republican congressmen such as Florida Senator Marco Rubio, not only oppose but also declare that they will use all means to prevent normalization with Cuba./.

According to VNA