U.S., Cuba Fail to Reach Accord on Immigration

Cuban and U.S. officials, after meeting in Mexico City for two days, failed to reach agreement on renewal of an immigration agreement suspended last year, the State Department said today.

The talks, held in Mexico City on Tuesday and Wednesday, stemmed from Cuban indications that they would be willing to restore a 1984 agreement that provided for repatriation to Cuba of criminals and mental patients who came to the United States since 1980 and resumption of Cuban immigration to the United States.

Cuba canceled the agreement in May, 1985, when Radio Marti, a U.S.-sponsored radio station, began beaming broadcasts to Cuba. According to reports of this week’s negotiations, the Cubans were willing to drop their demand that Radio Marti cease operations if the United States granted Cuba a radio frequency it could use to beam programs northward.

State Department spokesman Bernard Kalb said the talks failed because Cuba “insisted on major and disruptive changes in the organization of radio broadcasting in the United States.”

“In view of Cuban insistence on their own proposals, no agreement was reached,” Kalb said.

He gave no details of the talks, which were carried out by Michael G. Kozak, the department’s principle deputy legal adviser, and Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, the Cuban deputy foreign minister.