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 That could take place before both sides are ready to open
embassies, Josefina Vidal, the head of the United States division at
the Cuban Foreign Ministry told state media.
It is the first time Cuba has said publicly it is willing to restore
relations before it is removed from the list.
Delinking the opening of embassies could make it easier for
diplomatic relations - broken 54 years ago - to be renewed prior to
a regional heads of state summit in Panama on April 10-11.
"In our view it's not necessary to put it all in one package because
if, for example, in a few weeks we receive some satisfactory
notification in regards to the matter of Cuba's removal from
terrorist list, I think we will be ready to then begin talking about
how to formalize the re-establishing of relations," Vidal said in an
interview published on Sunday in Cubadebate.
Asked if he expected to have relations with Cuba restored before the
summit, president Obama told Reuters in an exclusive interview on
Monday: "My hope is that we will be able to open an embassy and that
some of the initial groundwork will have been laid."
 A state department representative said: "We believe re-establishment
of diplomatic relations and opening of embassies should be done
together. With will on both sides, we can get them done before the
Summit."
The White House wants to restore relations before the Panama summit
to strengthen Obama's hand with other Latin American countries who
have been critical of the U.S. policy for decades.
U.S. and Cuban officials have held two rounds of talks since the
Dec. 17 announcement they would work toward normalizing relations.
At talks on Friday, Cuba said removal from the list was a "priority"
not a pre-condition for re-establishing relations. Cuba also raised
a logistical issue - the lack of a bank willing to accept its
account because of U.S. sanctions on banks that do business with
countries on the list.
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The Obama administration is nearing completion of its review of
Cuba's place on the list, which must be submitted to Congress before
the country can be removed after a 45-day wait period, U.S.
officials say.
Friday's talks ended on a positive note. Although no date for the
renewal of relations - or the next round of talks - was announced,
the head of the U.S. delegation, Assistant Secretary of State
Roberta Jacobson, said she was “optimistic” about the renewal of
relations before the Panama summit.
Vidal told Cubadebate that, if Cuba got word the Obama
administration was recommending the removal from the terrorism list,
diplomatic ties could go forward without a prior resolution of the
banking issue.
"We could say: 'OK, let's re-establish relations' and the opening of
the embassies are deferred until a later time, when there are
appropriate conditions," Vidal said.
Cuba was added to the terrorism sponsors list in 1982 when it backed
insurgencies during the Cold War.
(Writing by David Adams. Reporting by David Adams in Miami, Daniel
Trotta in Havana and Jeff Mason in Washington. Editing by Andre
Grenon)
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