Despite a wave of optimism, US and Cuban negotiators meeting in Washington on Thursday could not reach an accord on re-establishing long-fractured diplomatic ties, but agreed to keep talking yesterday.
Representatives from both nations met all day at the US Department of State to resolve a checklist of issues before they could elevate their current diplomatic outposts known as “interests sections” into full-fledged embassies and exchange ambassadors for the first time in more than half a century.
US and Cuban officials would not discuss the talks, but a Department of State notice suggested officials would speak to the news media after yesterday’s round.
In recent days, diplomats on both sides had said they believed an agreement was near, but added that they still had certain issues to resolve.
The US has been insisting on assurances that its diplomats could move around Cuba freely and speak to whomever they wish, which the Cuban government often interprets as a designed way to strengthen the dissident movement.
The US also wanted guarantees that Cubans visiting the embassy in Havana would not be harassed by the police guarding it and that diplomatic shipments would not be subjected to tampering.
Cuba had been slow to agree to full diplomatic relations until it found a bank willing to handle its accounts in the US and until it was removed from the US government’s list of states that sponsor international terrorism.
This week, US officials said Cuba had found a bank and next week, it officially comes off the terrorism list, an order US President Barack Obama made last month, but required a 45-day review period to take effect.
This fourth round of talks — by Cuba’s count, it is the third, so clearly they do not agree on even small issues — took place five months after the US and Cuba vowed to restore full diplomatic relations.
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