U.S.-Cuban immigration talks resuming

by Mark Silva

Cuba is ready to resume talks with the United States over the legal immigration of Cubans to the U.S. and postal service between the two nations, the Associated Press reports today.

The Communist government notified the Obama administration on Saturday that it had accepted a May 22 overture restart immigration talks suspended by former President George W. Bush in 2003, the AP's Matthew Lee reports, citing a State Department official requesting anonymity because the time and place of talks have not been determined yet. Cuba also has expressed a willingness to cooperate with the U.S. on combating terrorism and stemming drug trafficking as well as hurricane preparedness.

The official, speaking with reporters before Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton left on a trip to El Salvador and Honduras, said the Cuban response is a "clear signal" that the administration and Havana government are willing to engage.

The State Department said earlier this month it had proposed restarting 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 lifted U.S. restrictions against travel to Cuba by Americans with family there and on the amount of money they can send to relatives on the island.

Hint of broader talks comes as Clinton takes part in a meeting Tuesday in Honduras where officials will discuss Cuba's readmission to the Organization of American States. U.S. officials are ready to support lifting the resolution that suspended Cuba from the 34-nation group - a subject which stood at the forefront of talks at a Summit of the Americas earlier this year in which Cuba was the only nation absent.

The Obama administration, however, has made no public indication of its readiness to lift a decades-old U.S. trade embargo against its island neighbor.