Top officials traveled the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) traveled on an official mission to the island nation of Cuba last week.

The delegation included the USCM president, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, vice presidents Mick Cornett, mayor of Oklahoma City, and Mitch Landrieu, mayor of New Orleans, and USCM CEO and executive director Tom Cochran.

The agenda included meetings in Havana with Cuban government officials and community leaders, as well as visits to some of Cuba’s most important political, economic, and cultural sites. These meetings and visits provided the U.S. mayors and Cuban officials the opportunity to share best practices for providing city services in education, healthcare, infrastructure, and transportation.

The trip marks the first official mission of the U.S. Conference of Mayors since 1978.

As the United States re-establishes relations with Cuba, the mission, which was arranged in partnership with the Center for Democracy in the Americas, provided the mayors with an opportunity to examine the economic changes underway on the island, gain an appreciation of the challenges faced by the Cuban people every day, and consider how U.S.-Cuba relations can evolve further.