A delegation of U.S. congresspersons on an official visit to Cuba toured this Monday Havana’s Capitol Building, the institutional headquarters of the National Assembly of People’s Power (Parliament).
The group, made up by Democrat Senators Patrick Leahy (Vermont), Tom Udall (New Mexico), and Michael Bennet (Colorado), y Representative Jim McGovern (Massachusetts), visited the recently opened spaces of the Capitol Building, as well as the halls that are still being restored.
They were received by Ana María Mari, deputy speaker of the Cuban Parliament, and Yolanda Ferrer, chairwoman of the island’s legislative’s International Relations Committee, who spoke to them about the parliamentary institution and its return to what used to be its initial venue.
After their arrival to the island this February 19 the visitors met with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez. Their program also includes talks with Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca; and with Minister of Agriculture Gustavo Rodríguez.
Republican Senator William Thad Cochran (Mississippi) also forms part of the delegation. This Monday he presided over the signing of two memorandums of understanding between the Cuban government and the southern ports of Pascagoula and Gulfport. The agreements will allow for exchanging information about technology, operations and port infrastructures.
For the U.S. side the agreements were signed by Mark McAndrews and Jonathan Daniels, representatives of both ports in the State of Mississippi, while for the island’s side they were signed by Manuel Pérez, general director of the National Ports Administration.
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According to Pérez, the geographical vicinity will enable extending cooperation between the U.S. ports and their Cuban counterparts and thus strengthen bilateral relations despite the blockade.
Meanwhile, Rosario Boxx, director of the International Trade Office of Mississippi, confirmed her state’s interest in doing business with the island. She said that their entrepreneurs are interested in exporting their products to Cuba and to negotiate with its authorities.
With the two memorandums of this Monday, seven have already been signed between U.S. ports and the Cuban Ports Administration. The previous ones were signed with executives of Mobile (Alabama), Virginia, New Orleans, Lake Charles and South Louisiana, the last three in the State of Louisiana.
The list is not bigger because of the cancelation this January 26 of the signing of two agreements between the island and the ports of Everglades and Palm Beach, in Florida, due to the threat by that state’s governor, Rick Scott, to cut the budget of the maritime terminals that cooperate with Cuba.
The visit to Havana by the U.S. lawmakers and the signing of these memorandums for the port activity, takes place despite the “cooling” promised by the Trump administration in relations with the island.
According to White House spokesman Sean Spicer, the U.S. government’s policy toward Cuba is currently under review, after two years of relations and more than 20 agreements signed with the island by the Obama administration.
