From The State Department

PUBLICADO PARA HOY 11 DE SEPTIEMBRE


From yesterday's Foreign Press Briefing with Assistant Secretary of State, P.J. Crowley:

QUESTION: Thank you very much. Sorry, Silvia Ayuso from the German press agency. I would like to ask you a question about Cuba. Today, after all the articles that have been coming out in the Atlantic, and many experts are warning that the U.S. is not reacting fast enough toward the changes that have been occurring in Cuba in the past month, beginning with the release of many prisoners, and that the U.S. is losing an opportunity in that sense. I'm asking myself if you – if the U.S. is finally planning to announce any new measures as the U.S. media advance almost a month ago, and so far we've seen nothing on that.

MR. CROWLEY: I have nothing to announce on Cuba. We have, we believe, been involved in a constructive dialogue with Cuba and by agreement with Cuba on a limited set of issues. We have mutual interests in managing issues regarding migration. We continue to look for ways to increase interaction between the American people and the Cuban people. We are prepared to respond to specific steps that Cuba takes. We have been encouraged by Cuba's recent release of political prisoners. We would like to see all political prisoners in Cuba released. We are very mindful at the same time that we have an American citizen in Cuban custody. We'd like to see him released.

So we are closely monitoring developments in Cuba. We are in – we have narrow discussions with Cuban authorities on areas of mutual interest. We are watching closely to see what – developments in Cuba and we'll see what happens.