US, Cuba to begin talks to normalize ties
The United States and Cuba will hold high level talks on Wednesday to restore diplomatic ties after officially breaking relations more than half a century of ago during the height of the Cold War.
US Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta Jacobson, will hold two days of talks in Havana with her Cuban counterparts to kick-start negotiations over a wide range of issues.
Jacobson will urge Cuba to lift travel restrictions on US diplomats and agree to establish US and Cuban embassies, a senior State Department official said on Monday.
"In addition to the reaccreditation of our diplomats, we are looking forward to the Cubans lifting travel restrictions, to trying to lift to the cap on the number of our diplomatic personal, to trying to gain unimpeded shipments for our mission and to the free access to our mission by Cubans," the State Department official said.
A six-member delegation of congressional Democrats, led by Senator Patrick Leah, began a three-day visit to Cuba on Saturday to discuss expectations for the normalization of relations between Washington and Havana.
US President Barack Obama announced in December that Washington will start talks with Cuba to normalize diplomatic relations, marking the most significant shift in US foreign policy towards the communist country in over 50 years.
US Republican Senator Marco Rubio and some other lawmakers have criticized Obama for trying to restore relations with Cuba because they say it could provide Cuba with legitimacy and money while it continues with its alleged human rights violations.
Rubio has stressed that he and fellow party members would seek to slow or block Obama’s moves towards normalizing Cuba ties.
AHT/GJH
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