(VOVworld) – The US and Cuba have concluded their first dialogue on human rights in Washington.

Cuban and US delegations at a negotiation (Photo: AFP/VNA)

Pedro Luis Pedroso, deputy director of Multilateral Affairs and Law at Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the event was the first such in the history of the two countries, showing that the US and Cuba can have civilized relations that recognize and respect their differences. Mr. Pedroso said Havana expressed concerns about racial discrimination, police brutality, torture, and the indefinite detention of Guantanamo inmates as well as limits on trade unions in the US. Meanwhile, Washington asked Havana to improve human rights in Cuba and expressed its concern about Cuba’s detention of opposition activists, political activists and treatment of political prisoners. Cuba also asked the US to stop interfering in its internal affairs.