WASHINGTON (Sputnik) – The law enforcement of the United States and Cuba are now exchanging data through the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) as part of the relations normalization process, US Deputy Assistant Secretary for South America and Cuba Alex Lee told Sputnik.
"We’ve had our first law enforcement dialogue and one of the most important aspects or contributions of that was that we were able to establish a direct link of exchanging information through INTERPOL," Lee said on Thursday, on the sidelines of the Cuba Summit in Washington, DC.
According to Lee, the United States has already addressed some issues raised by Cuba through the new information exchange channel.
"Now, we have a direct channel, and I’m sure my Justice Department colleagues have already answered some inquiries, and they’ve already sent questions to their Cuban counterparts," he told Sputnik.
In August, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla said that the United States and Cuba should broaden their bilateral dialogue to cooperate on a range of issues including law enforcement, and announced that the two countries would establish a steering committee to discuss a host of outstanding issues, including law enforcement.
Despite the relief in tensions, the United States maintains a trade embargo on Cuba mandated by the US Congress.
Alex Lee also said that the United States is set on trying to streamline financial transactions with Cuba to the degree permitted by the law.
"Our goal now is, looking forward, is to try to facilitate financial exchanges to the best we can, to the extent that we are allowed under the law," the State Department official said on the sidelines of the Cuba Summit in Washington, DC. on Thursday.
Stonegate CEO Dave Seleski told Sputnik on Thursday that due to the existing embargo the operations of the financial institution remain very limited in Cuba.
