U.S. Plans Informal Meetings With Cuba

[cal04]

Source: NY Times

Seizing the momentum from recent meetings with Latin American leaders, the Obama administration is quietly pushing forward with efforts to reopen channels of communication with Cuba, according to White House and State Department officials.

The officials said informal meetings were being planned between the State Department and Cuban diplomats in the United States to determine whether the two governments could open formal talks on a variety of issues, including migration, drug trafficking and other regional security matters.

And the administration is also looking for ways to open channels for more cultural and academic exchanges between Cuba and the United States, the officials said.

The next steps, said a senior administration official, would be meant to “test the waters,” to see whether the United States and Cuba could develop a “serious, civil, open relationship.”

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/27/world/americas/27cuba.html?_r=1&hp

[47of74]

1. That'll be on tomorrow's edition of What the FOX?!

And the heads of all the righties - from the Fat Ass Drug Addict, to the Mannity, over to Bill-O-the-Stalker-Clown - will probably explode.

[IndianaGreen]

2. Reopening the US embassy in Havana and exchanging ambassadors is a good start

We have relations with Vietnam, despite the heavy losses we suffered during the war, so why not have relations with Cuba that has not harmed us one bit?

[Toucano]

3. A welcome first step.

Three cheers for sanity!

[Judi Lynn]

4. cal04, you've posted some of the best news yet! Would you have expected to hear this LAST YEAR?

Never! This is absolutely stupendous. I hope President Obama won't let us down, and make any hostile moves against this exceptional island nation.

http://www.juventudrebelde.co.cu.nyud.net:8090/img/info/the-national-celebration-will-be-more-intense-starting-from-december-20-2008-12-10.jpg

50th anniversary of the Revolution celebration in Holguin, Cuba

[Mika]

5. Don't get too excited just yet.

From the article..

After saying the United States was “ready to talk about a series of issues,” the official added, “This thing with Cuba is going to take a lot of time, and it may not work.”

I suspect that Cuba must open its veins for US "normalization" with the island.