U.S.,
Cuba talks on opening embassies head into second day
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[May 22, 2015]
By Lesley Wroughton and Daniel Trotta
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Talks between the
United States and Cuba will go into a second day on Friday as the sides
try to reach agreement on reopening embassies shut for more than half a
century, the crucial next step in their historic detente.
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The opening of embassies in Washington and Havana is part of an
agreement struck between U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban
President Raul Castro in December to reestablish diplomatic ties
severed by the United States in 1961 soon after Cuba's revolution.
Once diplomatic relations are restored, the long-time adversaries
will work on the more complicated task of normalizing overall
relations.
"They will continue tomorrow," State Department spokeswoman Marie
Harf said after a day of meetings in Washington led by U.S.
Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson and Josefina Vidal,
director of U.S. affairs at the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
Both sides are due to hold news conferences on Friday.
Washington wants assurances that its diplomats will have more
freedom of movement on the Communist-ruled island, while Castro this
week reiterated Cuban concerns that dissidents are receiving
"illegal" training at the U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
The two countries have interests sections rather than embassies in
each other's capitals. Currently, U.S. diplomats cannot leave Havana
without permission, while Cuban diplomats cannot travel outside of
Washington and New York.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/22/images/ads/current/memorial_home_sda_041515.png) Washington also wants assurances that Cubans would be able to visit
the U.S. Embassy without being harassed by police and that there
would be in an increase in U.S. embassy personnel.
Jacobson has acknowledged that the embassy would likely operate
similarly to those in other countries where there are restrictive
political environments. China and Vietnam could serve as models for
new rules governing U.S. diplomats' movements in Cuba.
One of the most contentious issues between the former Cold War
rivals is Washington's so-called pro-democracy programs for Cuba,
which Castro calls illegal and a breach of a 1961 international
treaty on diplomatic relations.
The U.S. Interests Section in Havana offers Cubans free courses on
journalism, English and information technology, and also allows
Cubans to use the Internet.
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Washington continues to press the case for greater political
freedoms on the island, despite a rapprochement that has included
landmark talks between Castro and Obama during a regional summit in
Panama last month.
White House spokesman Josh Earnest told a daily briefing that the
United States was concerned with "the way the Cuban government all
too often fails to respect the basic universal human rights" of its
people.
"That continues to be a source of significant concern," he said,
adding, "It is our hope that the greater engagement between the
United States and Cuba will help the Cuban people and the Cuban
government understand how important it is to respect those basic
universal human rights."
This week's talks are the first since Obama announced on April 14
that he had decided to remove Cuba from a U.S. list of state
sponsors of terrorism, which Havana had called a necessary step for
further progress.
The Cubans have signaled that any formal announcement on the
re-opening of embassies will likely have to wait until after the
45-day Congressional review period for removing Cuba from the
terrorism list. Cuba considers May 29 as the date when the review
period ends.
(Editing by Frances Kerry)
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