Centrum Stosunków Międzynarodowych - 17 January 2017: US and Cuba Sign Cooperation Agreement

In the last days of the Obama administration, the United States and Cuba have signed a memorandum of understanding to further cooperation between the two countries or law enforcement and information sharing. These agreements specifically refer to counternarcotics, money laundering, fraud and human smuggling, and counterterrorism. This follows agreements a few months earlier on creating frameworks for cooperation in meteorological science, climate research, and on cancer research.

Over the past two year, the two nations have signed over a dozen other agreements. It is unclear how drastically the relationship between the USA and Cuba will change under the new administration, and these agreements are meant to reduce the possibility of a return to the previous state of affairs. Cuba, having signed agreements with the EU and others, may have some security in knowing that it will take a lot of effort to undo the previous years of progress.