U.S., Cuba fail to reach accord on re-establishing diplomatic ties

PanARMENIAN.Net - Despite a wave of optimism, United States and Cuban negotiators meeting in Washington late this week could not reach an accord on re-establishing diplomatic ties fractured five decades ago during the Cold War, the New York Times reports.

Josefina Vidal, a Cuban negotiator, said in Washington on Friday, May 22, that progress had been made. “Both delegations agreed to continue exchanges on aspects of the functioning of diplomatic missions,” she said.

Representatives from both nations met at the State Department on Thursday and Friday, but emerged without a deal and only a promise to continue talking.

In recent days, diplomats on both sides said they believed an agreement was near, while noting they still had certain issues to resolve.

On Friday, Vidal, who is Cuba’s director of North American affairs, declined to say what was hanging up the talks but said future discussions would focus on the “functioning of the embassies.” The United States has insisted on its diplomats having freedom to travel and to speak openly to people, which Cuba often regards as a means to stir up dissidents.

“We exchanged views on every aspect related to the functioning of the embassies and the behavior of diplomats,” she said. “I won’t mention in detail the positions we took and discussed because these are being discussed at diplomatic levels.”

The Americans also wanted guarantees that Cubans visiting the embassy would not be harassed by police officers guarding it.

Cuba had been slow to agree to full diplomatic relations until it found a bank willing to handle its accounts at a diplomatic mission in the United States and until it was removed from the American government’s list of states that sponsor international terrorism. This week, American officials said Cuba had found a bank and next week it officially comes off the list. President Obama issued that order last month, but there was a 45-day review period before it could take effect.

The latest round of talks took place five months after the United States and Cuba agreed to restore full diplomatic relations ruptured five decades ago in the Cold War. Obama and President Raúl Castro of Cuba have publicly said they want embassies, but working out the details has taken some time.

The United States, growing ever more concerned about a Communist beachhead 90 miles from its shores, broke relations with Cuba on Jan 3, 1961, after Fidel Castro ordered a drastic reduction in the staff of the American Embassy, which he considered a spy outpost aimed at toppling him.