Washington---After five months of negotiations, the United States and Cuba are closer to ending decades of diplomatic hostilities and reopening embassies in each other's countries, a top US official said Tuesday.
The fourth round of talks on restoring full ties is due to be held in Washington on Thursday between top-level US and Cuban officials, the senior State Department official told reporters.
Without predicting the outcome of the talks, the official said: "I'm trying not to sound too 'Pollyanna-ish' ... but I do think we are closer than we have been in the past."
Washington however has certain requirements, such as its diplomats being able to meet freely with dissidents on the communist-run island. Cuba has meanwhile been vocal in its opposition to US-funded democracy programs on the island.
The official said there was a "check-list" of things which was slowly being ticked off, but there were still some things to be worked out.
"So we'll have to see whether we can get there in this round of talks, I certainly hope so."
The diplomatic path has been advancing since US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December that the two countries were ending a half-century of enmity and would seek full diplomatic relations. They currently have downgraded ties, and just Interests Sections in each other's capital.
Castro and Obama also held a historic meeting in Panama in April on the sidelines of a regional summit.
Now, two key Cuban demands ahead of reopening embassies appear to have been almost met.
Obama has told Congress he intends to remove the Caribbean island from a US list of state sponsors of terrorism, and "there are no efforts under way on Capitol Hill right now to block" that, the senior State Department official told reporters.
If there is no objection by US lawmakers, then Cuba will be lifted from the black list shortly after May 29.
Havana has also meanwhile found a bank willing to do business with it on American soil, removing another key hurdle, the official added, refusing to identify the financial institution.
On Thursday, the US top official for Latin America, Roberta Jacobson, will host a team from the Cuban government led by Havana's director of US affairs, Josefina Vidal.
AFP
