U.S. and Cuban officials concluded talks on restoring diplomatic ties after five decades with Cuban officials calling for the country's removal from the State Department's list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
While officials from both sides smiled to reporters and said the talks in Havana were productive, negotiators still have to address "profound" differences before they can reopen embassies in their respective capitals, said Josefina Vidal, Cuba's top diplomat for North American affairs. Talks will resume in Washington as soon as next month, according to two officials who weren't authorized to discuss the issue publicly.
"It would be difficult to explain that diplomatic ties were restored while Cuba continues, unjustly, on the list of state sponsors of terrorism," Vidal said. The negotiations are "about establishing relations between two countries with profound differences over a range of issues," she added.
This week's meetings over diplomatic ties and migration policies were the first since Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro announced in December plans to begin normalizing ties strained during Dwight D. Eisenhower's administration. The move drew criticism from some Republican leaders in Washington, including Senator Marco Rubio, who has vowed to prevent the designation of an ambassador to the island, just 90 miles off the Florida coast.
The State Department last month began a six-month review of Cuba's status on the terrorism list, which includes Iran, Sudan and Syria. Cuba has been on the list since March 1982.
Congressional Approval
Restoring diplomatic ties doesn't mean the U.S. embargo on the island would end. While Obama eased some travel and trade restrictions after his Dec. 17 announcement, lifting the embargo would require Congressional approval.
Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson said the two sides also discussed human rights issues today before returning for an afternoon session to focus on issues such as cooperation on counter-narcotics missions, search and rescue operations and public health. Jacobson is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the Communist island since 1980.
Jacobson said the two sides discussed human rights, following Cuba's crackdown on political dissidents in the wake of Obama and Castro's December detente. In a separate news conference, however, Vidal said they had not discussed the issue.
"Our efforts to normalize relations will be a continuing process that goes beyond establishing diplomatic relations or opening an embassy," Jacobson said. "Today, we have made further steps in this new direction."