U.S. and Cuba to meet again on Feb. 27

The U.S. State Department is informing that the next round of talks between the U.S. and Cuba have been scheduled for Feb. 27 in Washington, DC.

“I can confirm that the talks will be held on the 27th here at the State Department – the 27th of February,” State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki told reporters.

The first encounter between the two governments was held in Havana in late January. Heading the U.S. delegation was Roberta Jacobson, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs. At the conclusion of the first round she said, “The road to normalization will be very complex, but the most important thing is to take the first step, which is what we did yesterday.”

Heading the Cuban delegation is Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, who in an interview on Cuban television, also after the first round of talks, said that “…in every process of diplomatic negotiation, on some issues, it is possible to find points where we can say ‘well, I’d be willing to give in on this, and I’d be willing to give in on that, even though the issues are asymmetrical, with a view to move closer to the solution of many problems.’”

Vidal Ferreiro did stress that Cuba was “not going to negotiate issues of a domestic nature, of Cuban sovereignty, for a lifting of the blockade.”