US, Cuban officials meet to set priorities for future talks

US and Cuban officials met today in Havana to set an agenda for future negotiations after having re-established diplomatic relations in July.
The Cuban foreign ministry, which announced the start of the talks on its Twitter account, said the delegations should "define the program of subjects to be taken up immediately" in future sessions.
The meeting was announced August 14 during a historic visit to Havana by Secretary of State John Kerry to raise the Stars and Stripes over the newly reopened US embassy after a 54-year break.
The US delegation is led by Edward Lee, assistant secretary of state for western hemispheric affairs, while the Cuban side is led by Josefina Vidal, head of the US section of the Cuban foreign ministry.

The Havana government said that among the issues to be taken up by the US-Cuban commission are unresolved issues that have accumulated over the past half century.
They would include the status of the US naval base at Guantanamo Bay on the southeastern tip of Cuba, the US trade embargo and compensation for US properties nationalized in 1960 by Fidel Castro.