US-Cuba talks stretch into second day
The United States and Cuba agreed to hold an unscheduled second day of talks yesterday hoping to overcome hurdles blocking the restoration of diplomatic ties frozen for some five decades.
State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf confirmed the fourth round of talks aimed at agreeing the re-opening of embassies after a half century of hostilities had finished for the day Thursday and "will continue tomorrow."
The Cuban foreign ministry said in a message on Twitter that "progress" had been made, confirming the two delegations would meet again on Friday.
Jacobson told US lawmakers on the eve of the fresh talks that "significant differences remain between our two governments."
The communist authorities in Havana have been particularly angered by US democracy programs and have so far not met demands that American diplomats be allowed to meet freely with dissidents.
In a rare historical moment, Cuban journalists were invited to the White House press room to join Thursday's daily briefing by press secretary Josh Earnest.
Washington has long slammed a lack of press freedom in Cuba.
"Welcome to the United States and to the White House," Earnest said, before taking what the reporter called "two small questions."
Cristina Escobar of state-run TV Cubana asked if was "possible to see a scenario in which we will open embassies in Havana and Washington" and whether President Barack Obama could visit in 2016.
She also wondered whether the US administration would be "more respectful... towards the behavior of the American diplomats in Havana."
Earnest acknowledged that "one of the many sticking points" in the talks has been "rules that govern the activities and movement of US diplomats in Cuba" but said the negotiations were aimed at resolving such differences.
Obama hopes "at some point in the relatively recent future" to be able to visit Cuba, his spokesman added.
Cuban exiles in Miami meanwhile alleged Havana's crackdown on dissident groups had increased "dramatically" since the rapprochement with the US began.
Orlando Gutierrez Boronat, national secretary of the pro-democracy Cuban Democratic Directorate, told reporters more than 100 people were arrested Sunday on the Caribbean island.
"We believe that the policy of rapprochement undertaken towards the Castro regime has contributed to a heightened sense of impunity by that regime," he said.
The United States has so far announced it plans to remove Cuba from a blacklist of state sponsors of terror, which should happen around May 29.
Havana has also found a bank willing to handle its financial affairs on US soil, something which had been a major sticking point.
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