WASHINGTON, June 26 (Reuters) - The United States and Cuba will hold the next in a series of periodic talks on migration in New York on Monday, the State Department said on Friday.
The talks deal with implementation of 1994 and 1995 agreements whereby the United States turns back most illegal ``rafters'' trying to reach U.S. shores from Cuba but takes 20,000 immigrants a year who apply through legal channels.
Next week's talks are the ninth round since 1994.
Washington insists that they deal only with migration and not politically controversial issues like the U.S. economic embargo on the communist-ruled island.
Earlier this month, the U.S. interests section in Havana staged another lottery -- the third since 1994 -- to determine who would get visas. The lotteries account for the majority of the annual quota of immigrants.
14:15 06-26-98
Copyright 1998 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.