U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc. New York, New York Telephone (917) 453-6726 • E-mail: [email protected] Internet: http://www.cubatrade.org • Twitter: @CubaCouncil Facebook: www.facebook.com/uscubatradeandeconomiccouncil LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/u-s--cuba-trade-and-economic-council-inc- The Miami Herald Miami, Florida 9 August 2016 U.S. air marshals will be aboard Cuba flights Kevin Mase, an American Airlines chief pilot, draps a Cuban flag from an AA Boeing 737 on Dec. 16, 2015 -- the day the United States and Cuba said they had reached an agreement on restoring commercial air service between the two countries. American Airlines TNS By Mimi Whitefield A sticking point in resumption of commercial airline service to Cuba has been resolved: U.S. air marshals will travel on certain flights to Cuba. At the request of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council, the Transportation Security Administration released a statement addressing the issue of federal air marshals on flights to and from Cuba. Regularly scheduled service to Cuba is tentatively scheduled to resume after a hiatus of more than five decades on Aug. 31 when JetBlue begins service from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport to Santa Clara, Cuba. Pending final approval from the Cuban government, other airlines, including American Airlines, are scheduled to begin their inaugural service to destinations outside the Cuban capital soon after that. The U.S. Department of Transportation has tentatively approved Havana routes for eight airlines and is expected to announce final approvals later this month. “In the spirit of enhancing the security of international civil aviation, the United States and The Republic of Cuba entered into an aviation security agreement that sets forth the legal framework for the deployment of U.S. in-flight security officers — more commonly known as federal air marshals — on board certain flights to and from Cuba,” said the TSA statement. “For security reasons, we will not divulge which flights air marshals will be aboard.” TSA statement The TSA said the agreement “will strengthen both parties’ aviation security efforts” and that it will continue to work with Cuba to expand air marshal presence on flights and to enhance security. During testimony before a House Committee on Homeland Security subcommittee TSA Representative Larry Mizell said that the TSA had worked with the government of Cuba to “share with them best practices and lessons learned” to make sure any security concerns discovered at Cuban airports are remedied. “We wouldn’t fly to a place that we don’t think is safe,” Martha Pantin, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, said Tuesday. American is scheduled to begin its commercial service to Cuba on Sept. 7 with flights to Cienfuegos and Holguín from Miami International Airport. Even though it will be American’s first ever scheduled service to Cuba, it has leased its planes for the past 25 years to charter companies flying to the island. Last year, there were 1,200 charter flights that used AA planes. Air marshals serve as “an active last line of defense against terrorism and air piracy, and are an important part of a multilayer strategy adopted by the U.S. to thwart terrorism in the civil aviation sector,” the TSA said. In July, four members of Congress, including three Republicans and a Democrat, said they wanted to stop Obama administration efforts to resume regularly scheduled flights to Cuba until the TSA certified that Cuban airports have appropriate security measures. One of their concerns was whether air marshals would be aboard Cuba flights. The Miami Herald Miami, Florida 5 August 2016 Cuba denies it's negotiating with U.S. on compensation claims By Nora Gámez Torres A Cuban government official has denied that a recent meeting with U.S. representatives to discuss mutual compensation claims amounts to a negotiation, raising doubts about Havana's willingness to settle the issue anytime soon. A senior U.S. State Department official who recently briefed journalists on the compensation talks said the two sides held “very substantial discussions” despite the nine months between the first and second meetings. But the Cuban government's public version of the talks was quite different. Deputy Foreign Minister Abelardo Moreno told a news conference in Havana on Monday that “we are not negotiating yet. … We are now engaged in informational talks.” A transcript of the news conference was published by Cubadebate. Moreno said the U.S. representatives “have stated the need to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, but … these are going to be extremely complex negotiations from all points of view … and we cannot rush things.” Jason Poblete, a lawyer who specializes in Cuba claims with PobleteTamargo LLP in Washington D.C., said that although Moreno's statements are typical of negotiations, the discussions “are negotiations, because they're sitting at a table and talking about the issue,” he said, adding that Moreno’s statements point to a decision by Cuba to delay the process. “These statements show they are not interested in finding a solution, that there is a tactic to delay,” Poblete said. He believes the Cuban government may be waiting to see if the U.S. president elected in November “will offer them something better.” The delays also would maintain the status quo until 2018, when Cuban ruler Raúl Castro has said he will surrender the presidency. That could be a mistake, said John Kavulich, director of the US-Cuba Trade and Economic Council: “Cuba will never have a more compliant negotiating partner than it does in the Obama Administration, for whom [improved relations with Havana] … is a visceral component of a legacy construct,” he said. Moreno's comments in fact could be “an indirect message that they are not interested in solving this issue. I am speculating, but perhaps they want to win the elimination of all sanctions before they pay” compensation, said Poblete. The State Department official told journalists that the U.S. side seeks $1.9 billion in compensation for Cuba's seizure of properties owned by U.S. citizens in the early 1960s; $2.2 billion of judgments outstanding against Cuba; and a “hundred to a couple hundred millions of dollars” that relate to interests that the U.S. government had in mining on the island. Cuba seeks nearly $300 billion as compensation for the economic and human damages caused by the U.S. trade embargo and other policies and activities against the Castro governments since 1959. The State Department official said there is “nothing different in these negotiations from our experience negotiating claims with other countries,” and added that both sides “are committed to trying to resolve this in a mutually satisfactory manner.” The Cuban official, however, has linked the payment of compensations to the U.S. embargo, which Havana calls a “blockade.” “The solution to the issue of compensations … is obviously directly linked to the blockade. I believe that all of you understand that the normalization of relations between the two countries will be very difficult, if not impossible, while the blockade against Cuba remains in place,” Moreno declared. U.S. negotiators have considered the possibility of signing a bilateral agreement with a one-time payment to resolve the issue. But Moreno, asked if the Cuban side would accept such a deal, said the island's claims are not negotiable. “The claims of the Cuban people were approved by the courts, and claims are not negotiated,” he said. “I can't say, 'Cuba claimed X amount of money — which was approved by the courts — but now we're going to change it to another amount.' No. Those are judicial rulings that must be obeyed by our government officials.” The two sides ended the second meeting, held in Washington, without agreement on the date for the next meeting. The first meeting, held in Havana, also ended without agreement on the date for the second. Kavulich said the key challenge for the Cuban government is to recognize that there will be no specific monetary reparations from the U.S. side. “The negotiators will need to ask whether the imagery of seeking what will not be given is more important for the 11.3 million citizens of the Republic of Cuba than removing a significant impediment to … immediate multilateral benefits,” he said. Poblete agreed: “If the Cubans are interested in having the U.S. sanctions removed, they would pay the claims, which would help the groups in Washington that are pushing for the elimination of sanctions” on Havana, he said. Kavulich also questioned whether the Obama Administration views the compensation issue as a priority. “Two meetings in 599 days. No further meetings scheduled, and the Obama Administration ends in 175 days. And this is defined as a high priority of the Obama Administration. The certified claimants have been concerned, and now that concern is magnified,” he said. “Claimants have not seen the effort they deserve,” Kavulich added. “A legacy is not built by focusing on the relatively easy issues, but on the difficult issues.” USA Today Arlington, Virginia 20 July 2016 U.S. urges Cuba to do more to improve relationship By Alan Gomez (Photo: Michael Reynolds, European Pressphoto Agency) MIAMI — On the first anniversary of renewed diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba, the U.S. government prodded the island’s communist leaders Wednesday to take greater steps toward economic and political freedom. A senior State Department official told reporters in a briefing that there have been signs of progress over the past year, including increased travel between the two countries and productive discussions between government officials. But the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to publicly discuss the new relationship, said the Cuban government needs to allow more trade and connections between citizens and business of both countries.