By Dave Sherwood and Matt Spetalnick
HAVANA/WASHINGTON (Reuters) -A visiting U.S. delegation wrapped up two days of talks on law-enforcement issues with Cuban officials in Havana on Thursday, the State Department said, the first meeting of its kind since such negotiations were halted under former President Donald Trump.
Washington’s concerns about counterterrorism were among items on the agenda, U.S. officials had said. Trump placed Cuba on the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism shortly before his term ended in January 2021, and the Biden administration has been reviewing this since taking office.
This week’s meetings marked the revival of the law-enforcement dialogue, which was launched in 2015 under former President Barack Obama but was stopped in 2018 under Trump as he rolled back his predecessor’s historic detente with Communist-ruled Cuba.
President Joe Biden, who served as Obama’s vice president, has begun reversing some of Trump’s policies but has maintained others, insisting the Cuban government must improve its human rights record after a harsh crackdown on street protests in 2021.
“This type of dialogue enhances the national security of the United States through improved international law enforcement coordination,” the State Department said in a statement. But it stopped short of announcing any agreements between the Cold War-era foes.
The Cuban government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The talks, which included the State Department, Justice Department and Homeland Security as well as immigration officials and the U.S. Coast Guard, had been expected to focus on combating cybercrime, terrorist threats and drug trafficking, among other issues.
(Reporting By Matt Spetalnick and Dave Sherwood; Editing by Chris Reese and Bradley Perrett)
