Americas...:US, Cuba Hold Highest-Level Meeting in over 50 Y...

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US, Cuba Hold Highest-Level Meeting in over 50 Years

Local Editor

US Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez have held talks, in the highest level meeting between the two countries in more than half a century.

The two held closed-door discussions after arriving in Panama for a summit.
Meanwhile, the US state department has reportedly recommended that Cuba be removed from its list of states said to sponsor terrorism.

Such a move could pave the way for the two countries re-opening embassies.
US President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro are also due to hold their first formal meeting at the Summit of the Americas in Panama over the coming days.

Few details have emerged from the meeting between Kerry and Rodriguez. The last comparable high-level meeting was in 1959, when Fidel Castro met then Vice-President Richard Nixon.

Diplomatic ties froze two years later, but last year Mr Obama announced that a "new chapter" in relations would commence.

Despite the huge political gulf between them, Barack Obama and Raul Castro are on the verge of making history in Panama.
Not since President Eisenhower sat down with Cuban leader Fulgencio Batista has a sitting US president met a Cuban one.

Obama may also now come bearing gifts. It is expected that he will confirm that Cuba has been removed from the list of state sponsors of terrorism, a sticking point between the two countries which dates back to 1982.

For Obama, this is an important diplomatic step which shows to the Cuban leader he is a man of his word when it comes to a willingness to normalize relations with the communist island.
From Cuba's perspective, being taken off the blacklist is a welcome move and a key priority to moving the relationship forward - though they felt their inclusion was illegitimate in the first place.

Meanwhile Senator Ben Cardin, a leading member of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee, said the US State Department had recommended removing Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

The move was "the result of a months-long technical review" and would be "an important step forward in our efforts to forge a more fruitful relationship with Cuba", he said.

Cuba is one of four countries still on the US list of countries accused of repeatedly supporting global terrorism; Iran, Sudan and Syria are others.
It was first put on the list in 1982 for offering sanctuary to militant ETA Basque separatists and Colombian Farc rebels.

For Castro, ending the terror status would redress what has been a wound to Cuban pride
Removing Cuba from the list could lead to the easing of financial restrictions on Cuba's access to loans and aid.
If Obama opts to accept the state department's recommendations, Congress would have 45 days to decide whether to override him.

He faces fierce critics of his Cuban policy at home, such as from Cuban-American Ted Cruz, who is a Republican presidential candidate.
The US and Cuban leaders shook hands during Nelson Mandela's funeral in 2013

Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team