In the afternoon of Tuesday, February 16th, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla received the Secretary of Transportation, Anthony Foxx at the headquarters of the Foreign Ministry. The Secretary of Transportation traveled to Cuba to attend the ceremony for the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding for the establishment of scheduled flights between Cuba and the United States.
The Secretary was accompanied by Charles Rivkin, Assistant Secretary of State for Economic and Business Affairs; Scott Hamilton, Deputy Chief of Mission of the United States Embassy in Cuba, and other officials of the Departments of Transportation and State.
During the meeting, they addressed different topics of interest relating to the current situation of relations between Cuba and the United States and the impact that the implementation of the signed agreement might have on travel between both countries, which could be fully taken advantage of once the freedom of travel of U.S. citizens to Cuba is reestablished.
The Cuban side emphasized that the signing of the above mentioned MOU is a step that favors the process towards the improvement of bilateral relations. The lifting of the blockade, among other pending issues that should be resolved, would be essential for the normalization of these relations.
In the morning, Adel Yzquierdo Rodríguez, Minister of Transportation met with Secretary Foxx and some members of his delegation to have an exchange on the future air transportation relations and the possibilities of cooperation between Cuba and the United States on civil aviation and other areas of interest.
On the Cuban side, both meetings were attended by Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, Director General of the United States Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Alfredo Cordero Puig, President of Cuba’s Civil Aviation Institute, and other officials form the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Transportation. (Taken from Cubaminrex)
