A new agreement on cooperation with Cuban law enforcement has been signed by the Obama administration as they seek to further increase ties with the island, just days before the Trump administration takes office. The agreement outlines cooperation on many security and criminal issues, including narcotics, money laundering, human trafficking, smuggling, cyber security, and immigration.
The agreement did not include Cuba returning several fugitives from the US, the protection of whom has been a major reason why Congress has been so opposed to the Cuba policy pursued by President Barack Obama. The State Department has not commented on the issue, despite having suggested before that the return of said fugitives was part of the negotiations with Cuba.
Julio Cesar Gandarilla, the minister of the interior for Cuba, signed the agreement, along with Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Havana’s de facto US ambassador. Ben Rhodes, the Deputy National Security Adviser, who was the mastermind behind the policy that restored diplomatic relations with Cuba back in 2014, after being frozen for sixty years, was also present at the event.
The agreement came just days after the Department of Homeland Security announced that the decades-old immigration policy, known as ‘Wet foot, dry foot’, which allowed Cubans who set foot on US soil automatic legal residency, was to be rescinded. The number of agreements has been made to make it difficult for the Cuban policy to be rescinded by incoming President, Donald Trump.