Above: Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United States and Cuba will be resuming their high-level bilateral talks next week on re-establishing diplomatic ties and reopening embassies, the State Department announced.

The two sides will hold the talks in Washington on May 21, according to a statement.

As has been the case since the two countries’ rapprochement last year, Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson will lead the talks for the US side, while Josefina Vidal, Director General of the US Division of Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will chair the Cuban delegation.

“A US Embassy in Havana will allow the United States to more effectively promote our interests and values, and increase engagement with the Cuban people,” the State Department said.

“Since the President’s announcement of his new direction on Cuba last December, the United States and Cuba have seen growing communication on a variety of issues, including matters of mutual concern such as migration, law enforcement, access to information, environmental protection, and trafficking in persons,” the Department said.