The State Department has informed Congress that the Biden Administration will hold dialogues with the "government of Cuba". The discussions with the security forces of the Cuban regime will take place on January 18-19 in Havana, Cuba. On the U.S. side, the Departments of State, Homeland Security, and Justice will co-chair the dialogues.
In the email sent to Congress this January 11, the State Department informed that these meetings are the first "Law Enforcement Dialogue" between the United States and Cuba since 2018. The State Department adds: "These discussions enhance U.S. national security by improving coordination with Cuba on U.S. law enforcement priorities."
The U.S. delegation will include representatives from the Department of State’s Bureaus of Western Hemisphere Affairs (WHA) and Office of the Legal Adviser (L); the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Strategy, Policy, and Plans, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), U.S. Coast Guard (USCG), and the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA), and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Officials from the U.S. Embassy in Havana will also participate.
In the email, the State Department states that after the dialogues it "will be available to brief members or staff on the U.S. delegation’s discussions with the Government of Cuba."
Regarding these dialogues, John Suarez, Executive Director of the Center for a Free Cuba told Americano: "The title of this meeting scheduled between Washington and Havana is misleading. There can be no "Law enforcement dialogue" because the rule of law does not exist in Cuba therefore neither does law enforcement by definition. The Castro regime is not a government, but a criminal enterprise running a failed state that engages in terrorism, drug trafficking, human trafficking, and trafficking in intelligence stolen from the United States and sold to its enemies. Instead, President Biden should request that all political prisoners be released from Cuba's prisons."