Cuba agrees to resume talks, official says

Cuba agrees to resume talks, official says
Immigration, mail service on agenda
By Matthew Lee | The Associated Press
June 1, 2009

WASHINGTON - Cuba has agreed to resume talks with the Obama
administration on legal immigration of Cubans to the United States and
direct mail service between the two countries, a State Department
official said Sunday.

The Cuban government notified the United States on Saturday that it had
accepted an administration overture made May 22 to restart the
immigration talks, suspended by President George W. Bush in 2003. Cuba
also expressed a willingness to cooperate with the United States on
fighting terrorism and drug trafficking, and on hurricane disaster
preparedness.

The official, who spoke to reporters just before Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton left on a trip to El Salvador and Honduras, said the
Cuban response was a positive development and "clear signal" that the
administration and the Havana government are willing to engage.

The State Department said earlier this month it had proposed restarting
the discussions to "reaffirm both sides' commitment to safe, legal and
orderly migration, to review trends in illegal Cuban migration to the
United States and to improve operational relations with Cuba on
migration issues."

In April, President Barack Obama rescinded restrictions on travel to
Cuba by Americans with family there and on the amount of money they can
send to their relatives on the island.

The latest development comes ahead of Clinton's participation at a
meeting Tuesday in Honduras where Cuba's possible readmission to the
Organization of American States is expected to be discussed.

U.S. officials say they are ready to support lifting the resolution that
suspended Cuba from the 34-country group. But they insist on linking the
island's readmission to democratic reforms.

Before the U.S.-Cuban talks were suspended in 2003, the twice-yearly
meetings in alternating countries had been the highest level contacts
between the two countries, which have no diplomatic relations. Cuban
officials were angered when the Bush administration decided to scuttle
the talks on grounds they were not crucial for monitoring agreements
aimed at preventing a mass exodus from the island.

The talks were created so the countries could track adherence to 1994
and 1995 accords designed to promote legal, orderly migration between
the two countries.

On U.S.-Cuban mail, previously material between the countries had to go
through third countries.

Cuba agrees to resume talks, official says -- South Florida
Sun-Sentinel.com (1 June 2009)

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/cuba/sfl-us-cuba-a060109sbjun01,0,6343282.story