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 The talks will be led by Roberta Jacobson, the top U.S. diplomat
for Latin America, in the first visit to Cuba in 38 years by a U.S.
assistant secretary of state.
"We are looking forward to the Cubans lifting travel restrictions,"
the official told reporters, referring to curbs that mean U.S.
diplomats are typically not allowed outside Havana. The same applies
to Cuban officials in Washington.
The official said Washington hoped to restore its embassy in Havana
in "the coming months." After the United States broke ties with Cuba
in 1961, the six-story building was closed, although it was later
converted into the U.S. interests sections in 1977.
"It is hard to know exactly what will come out of this first
conversation," the official said, referring to the talks set for
Wednesday and Thursday. "I am not oblivious to the weight of
history."
President Barack Obama reset Cuba policy on Dec. 17, opting for
engagement after more than five decades U.S. hostility toward the
island nation's communist government. Washington and Havana held 18
months of secret talks before announcing they would re-establish
diplomatic ties and exchange prisoners.
Among those released was foreign aid contractor Alan Gross, who
spent five years in a Cuban prison for importing illegal
communications equipment while on a mission for the U.S. Agency for
International Development.
Gross will sit with First Lady Michelle Obama when her husband
delivers the annual State of the Union address to Congress on
Tuesday, an indication the president will discuss Cuba policy in his
speech.
Four Democratic senators and two congressmen on Monday concluded a
three-day visit to Cuba, the first since Obama's policy shift. They
met with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and anti-government
dissidents, among others, but not President Raul Castro.
"I think he (Rodriguez) is open to every single issue from trade to
communications to establishing relations in agriculture," Sen.
Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont and leader of the delegation,
told reporters in Havana.
"Name an issue. They're involved. It's not like we're negotiating
with countries we've been at war with," Leahy said.
The Democrats noted that opinion polls show Americans favor Obama's
shift but that, in the words of Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin, it
would be a "heavy lift" to convince a Republican-controlled Congress
to formally lift the U.S. trade embargo.
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In a letter to Obama on Monday, a group of 78 policy experts and
former U.S. officials urged the administration to work with Congress
to update Cuba legislation.
The State Department official said the hope was to accelerate the
pace of negotiations with Cuba after this week's meeting to include
other areas such as settlement of property claims by Cuban Americans
and U.S. businesses whose assets were confiscated after Cuba's 1959
revolution.
In initial moves, Cuba has released 53 political prisoners and the
United States said it would ease some trade and investment
restrictions.
Washington has said it will press Cuba to release more political
prisoners and end short-term detentions. In the past Cuba has
rejected U.S. lecturing on human rights, and it dismisses the
dissidents as U.S.-backed mercenaries.
"This is going to be an ongoing issue and we should always bring it
up," Leahy said.
The State Department official said Obama's new policy depends on
"mutual consent" between the United States and Cuba.
The first day of talks will focus on migration issues, including
cases of Americans who have fled to Cuba. Castro's government has
regularly returned U.S. fugitives since 2008 but U.S. authorities
say dozens remain.
(Adds missing letter in "Americans" in paragraph 13)
(Additional reporting by Matt Spetalnick in Washington; Editing by
Cynthia Osterman and Kieran Murray)
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