U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Alex Lee will visit Duke University on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to discuss the challenges of resurrecting U.S.-Cuba relations under the Obama administration.
His free, public talk for the “Wednesday @ the Center” series, will be held at noon in from 12-1 p.m. in 240 John Hope Franklin Center.
Lee is the deputy assistant for South America and Cuba in the state department’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs. He led the U.S. delegation to the Migration Talks between Cuba and the United States in July 2013 and January 2014, and he was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Interest Section in Cuba in 2004-2006. He was deputy director of the Office of Caribbean Affairs between 2001 and 2002.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Venezuela Patrick Duddy described Lee as a deeply experienced Foreign Service officer with broad experience in the region. Duddy, now director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Duke, will join Lee in a discussion of the challenges that remain to opening up full trade relations with Cuba.
In August, the United States reopened its embassy in Cuba after 54 years, but the embargo on trade still stands.For those attending the talk, a one-hour parking pass to one of the parking garages is provided, and a light lunch will be served.
For more information, contact Jennifer Prather.