New York, January 19 (RHC-EFE) -- New York Governor Andrew Cuomo will head a trade mission to Cuba in the coming months, according to his spokesperson. "As part of the Global NY initiative, Gov. Cuomo is planning to lead a trade mission to Cuba. This is one of several trips of this kind he is planning to undertake during his new term to promote New York," said Melissa Derosa, the governor's communications director.
The announcement came after The Wall Street Journal reported that Cuomo is scheduled to announce his initiative next Wednesday during his speech on the state of the state.
With the trip, the New York governor will become one of the first top-level U.S. politicians to visit the Caribbean island since President Barack Obama announced intentions to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba.
Cuomo is slated to head a series of five trade missions during his second term, to which he was re-elected last November, and he decided that Cuba would be his first destination, a move coinciding with the U.S. administration's easing of restrictions on travel by Americans to the Caribbean country, The Wall Street Journal said.
A delegation of Democratic congressmen arrived over the weekend in Cuba, the first visit by U.S. legislators to the country since Obama's historic December 17th announcement that relations between Washington and Havana would be resumed. The trip came in advance of the first meeting to be held this week in Havana between Cuban and U.S. government representatives to discuss the resumption of diplomatic ties.
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson will head the U.S. diplomatic delegation, which will hold a new round of immigration talks with Cuban representatives on Wednesday, January 21st.