A meeting between senior American and Cuban representatives on migration issues

The American Embassy in Havana, March 2, 2018. Stringer / REUTERS

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A high-level meeting between Cuban representatives and American authorities, this Thursday, April 21, in Washington.

On the menu of discussions, migration issues as the number of Cubans arriving at US borders is on the rise.

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With our correspondent in Washington,

This is the first time since Joe Biden has been president that US and Cuban officials have met at this level.

If the State Department indicates that the high officials of the two countries are in regular contact, this time it is the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs who leads the Cuban delegation.

The US Secretary of Homeland Security hopes with this meeting

of migration agreements between the two countries.

These agreements provide for the granting of 20,000 visas per year to Cubans, but their issuance has only resumed since March and

after several months of closure.

Rise in Cuban immigration

According to US authorities, between October 2021 and March 2022, more than 78,000 Cubans entered the United States illegally through the Mexican border.

This is double the number of Cubans who left the island during the last wave of mass emigration in 1994.

This meeting comes at a time when Cuba is experiencing its worst economic crisis in 30 years.

Since coming to power, Joe Biden, despite his campaign promises, has kept the sanctions imposed by Donald Trump in place.

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• United States

• Cuba

• Immigration