A senior State Department official said on Monday that the US was “looking forward to the Cubans lifting travel restrictions and caps on personnel”, and that the next step, the upgrading of the US mission to full embassy status, could happen “quickly” following this week’s talks.
Jacobson also hopes to meet representatives of Cuban civil society, the official confirmed, adding that engagement with the Cuban government on issues of human rights and democracy would “remain central”.
Also on the table at the talks, the official said, would be the issues of “unimpeded shipments [to the US diplomatic mission], access to the US mission by the Cuban people, the accreditation of our diplomats, and removing the geographical restrictions on [the Cuban] people.”
The official said, however, that there was no specific expectation that all the issues would be closed this week, saying it was “hard to know exactly what will come out of this first conversation”.
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