Obama hopes to open embassy in Cuba before April summit

Source:Reuters Published: 2015-3-3 22:28:02

US President Barack Obama said on Monday he hopes the US will open an embassy in Cuba by the time of a Western Hemisphere summit in Panama in mid-April.

In an interview with Reuters, Obama also cautioned that it will take more time to fully establish normal relations with Cuba after more than a half-century rupture.

"My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy, and that some of the initial groundwork will have been laid" before the April 10-11 Summit of the Americas in Panama City, Obama said.

In a historic agreement, Washington and Havana announced on December 17 that they planned to restore diplomatic relations following 18 months of secret talks.

Two rounds of "normalization" talks in Havana and Washington have since made quick progress toward renewing official ties.

Cuba is keen to have Washington's official recognition of its one-party system run by the Cuban Communist Party, while the Obama administration believes establishing formal relations will strengthen its hand in Latin America where longstanding US efforts to isolate Cuba have failed resoundingly.

After the "last round of talks on Friday, the head of the US division at the Cuban foreign ministry, Josefina Vidal, told Cuban state media that Havana was willing to restore diplomatic relations as soon as the Obama administration declares its intent to take the Caribbean island off a list of state sponsors of terrorism.

It is the first time Cuba has said publicly it is willing to restore relations before it is removed from the list.

Both US and Cuban negotiating teams came out of Friday's talks in Washington in an upbeat mood but did not set a date for formal renewal of diplomatic relations that were severed in 1961.



Posted in: Americas

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