US lawmakers visiting Cuba make high-level rounds

HAVANA – Ten US lawmakers, the largest such delegation to visit communist-ruled Cuba, engaged here Saturday in a marathon of meetings with senior Cuban officials aimed at easing bilateral tensions.

The unprecedented scope of the personalised push by Republican and Democratic legislators came two weeks after Cuban leader Raul Castro, filling in for his ailing brother Fidel Castro, signalled openness to dialogue with the United States. The United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic relations, and the US government has maintained an economic embargo on the only one-party communist state in the Americas for decades.The bipartisan delegation that arrived here Friday has been pressing for the US government to lift the embargo and resume a dialogue with Havana, a move opposed by the Republican administration of George W Bush unless Cuba takes steps toward democracy.Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, was co-leading the delegation with William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat.Both are members of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations and leading members of the Cuba Working Group, which aims to foster better political, economic and cultural ties.The American delegation met Friday with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly and the top official for US affairs.Among Saturday’s round of events was a reception with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and meetings with central bank governor Francisco Soberon and Basic Industries Minister Yadira Garcia, an influential member of the Politburo of Cuba’s Communist Party.Authorities did not rule out a meeting with interim leader Raul Castro or Vice President Carlos Lage, organisers of the visit said privately.The US lawmakers have been tightlipped during the visit but have scheduled a news conference Sunday.Cuba’s media, all under state control, did not announce the visit prior to the arrival of the American delegation, who travelled on a US military jet, US sources said.Raul Castro, who is also the defence minister, has reached out to Washington more actively in his four months in interim power than his brother had in more than four decades as Cuba’s leader.On December 2, at a military parade at which Fidel Castro did not appear, Raul Castro, who also is the defence minister, called for negotiations between the two countries.Nampa-AFPThe United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic relations, and the US government has maintained an economic embargo on the only one-party communist state in the Americas for decades.The bipartisan delegation that arrived here Friday has been pressing for the US government to lift the embargo and resume a dialogue with Havana, a move opposed by the Republican administration of George W Bush unless Cuba takes steps toward democracy.Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican, was co-leading the delegation with William Delahunt, a Massachusetts Democrat.Both are members of the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Relations and leading members of the Cuba Working Group, which aims to foster better political, economic and cultural ties.The American delegation met Friday with Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly and the top official for US affairs.Among Saturday’s round of events was a reception with Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, and meetings with central bank governor Francisco Soberon and Basic Industries Minister Yadira Garcia, an influential member of the Politburo of Cuba’s Communist Party.Authorities did not rule out a meeting with interim leader Raul Castro or Vice President Carlos Lage, organisers of the visit said privately.The US lawmakers have been tightlipped during the visit but have scheduled a news conference Sunday.Cuba’s media, all under state control, did not announce the visit prior to the arrival of the American delegation, who travelled on a US military jet, US sources said.Raul Castro, who is also the defence minister, has reached out to Washington more actively in his four months in interim power than his brother had in more than four decades as Cuba’s leader.On December 2, at a military parade at which Fidel Castro did not appear, Raul Castro, who also is the defence minister, called for negotiations between the two countries.Nampa-AFP