Tuesday, January 10, 2017

Cuba, United States sign oil spill deal before Trump inauguration

Cuba, United States sign oil spill deal before Trump inauguration
By Marc Frank | HAVANA

Cuba and the United States agreed on Monday to jointly prevent, contain
and clean up oil and other toxic spills in the Gulf of Mexico, as they
rush to conclude deals before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.

U.S. Charge d'Affaires Jeffrey DeLaurentis, upon signing the agreement,
said it was one of a series of deals to protect the shared marine
environment of the two neighboring countries separated by just 90 miles
(145 km) of water.

Trump has threatened to scrap a still-fragile detente between the two
countries unless Cuba makes further political and economic concessions.

U.S. companies and the outgoing administration of President Barack Obama
have announced a flurry of small deals in recent weeks aimed at making
it harder for Trump to ditch the detente established by Obama and Cuban
President Raul Castro in 2014.

The former Cold War foes said last month that they hoped to sign as many
as six cooperation accords before Jan. 20, when President Barack Obama
leaves office.

The oil spill pact, also signed by Cuban Deputy Transportation Minister
Eduardo Rodriguez Davila, calls for the parties to prepare joint
disaster plans, test them and train personnel, among other measures.

Cuba and foreign partners drilled four offshore wells in the Gulf of
Mexico in 2012, raising concerns that U.S. sanctions meant the United
States was not in a position to respond to a spill that could be carried
by currents to its coast.

The wells came up dry, but Cuba says it plans to drill again.

"This agreement is especially important for people living in coastal
communities along the northern coast of Cuba and southern Florida
because it provides a strong measure of protection against future
disasters," Dan Whittle, head of Cuba projects at the New York-based
Environmental Defense Fund, said.

Obama has used executive orders to improve relations and punch holes in
the U.S. trade embargo, which can only be lifted by Congress. The deals
and orders can be reversed by Trump.

More than a dozen cooperation accords have been inked to date, ranging
from postal services and law enforcement to protecting marine life and
fighting drug trafficking.

Negotiations are ongoing over difficult issues such as U.S.
nationalization compensation claims, Cuba's demand for embargo
reparations, extraditing fugitives and the return of the Guantanamo
Naval Base to Cuba.

Last week a deal was struck to export small amounts of charcoal to the
United States and in December Google signed an agreement to place
servers on the island to quicken access to its products.

(Reporting by Marc Frank; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

Source: Cuba, United States sign oil spill deal before Trump
inauguration | Reuters -
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-cuba-usa-environment-idUSKBN14T223

No comments: