Cuban diplomats slam US on human rights

US and Cuban officials began a historic round of talks Wednesday to bridge a 50-year rift in diplomatic relations, but just a day later, the Cuban delegation slammed the US on its human rights track record.

Cuban diplomats announced in a statement Thursday that in discussions with American officials they expressed their "serious concerns" over human rights in the US, citing everything from detentions at Guantanamo Bay, to "police abuse" in Ferguson and New York to racial and gender inequalities, CNN reported.

The sniping comes just before Roberta Jacobson, the head of the US delegation, was set to meet Friday morning with the "Ladies in White," the wives and other female relatives of Cuban political prisoners, and other dissident groups.

The Cuban officials said they relayed their concerns to American diplomats about the "alarming cases of brutality and police abuse" in the US, "which show the worsening of racism and racial discrimination," according to the Cuban statement.

The Cuban diplomats said they are also concerned about racial disparities in the application of the death penalty in the US as well as the state of unequal pay for men and women in the US.