Opening of US and Cuba embassies still on hold but negotiators 'optimistic'

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/us-cuba-embassies-negotiators-optimistic

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American and Cuban diplomats have failed to finalize plans to re-open embassies in Havana and Washington, but said on Friday that talks had drawn the countries to their closest point in half a century to normalizing relations.

Assistant secretary of state Roberta Jacobson refused to tell reporters what specific disagreements remained, only saying that negotiations were “highly productive” and centered around the embassies.

“I remain optimistic,” Jacobson said, “but we still have a few things that need to be ironed out and we will do that as quickly as possible. I’m also a realist about 54 years that we have to overcome.”

Jacobson said that the delegations had made enough progress during this round of talks, the fourth since the countries announced their rapprochement in December, that she did not think another set of personal discussions necessary. “I think that at this point this is likely to be the kind of thing that can be hammered out using our diplomatic missions,” she said.

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She and the top diplomat for the Cuban delegation, Josefina Vidal, suggested that talks over the embassies would continue for several weeks.

But a senior State Department official said earlier this week that “quite a few things” remain on “the checklist of re-opening embassies”, ranging from the 15-day notification to Congress to arranging security around the embassy property and resolving the terms of diplomats’ rights and immunities in each country.

The official would not enter into specifics about Cuban or American positions on issues, or whether one side was proving more hesitant to act than another.

“I wouldn’t be even remotely optimistic if I did not feel that we were making progress,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “And by making progress, I mean obviously the checklist is getting done.”

Among the issues that appear under debate are the freedoms of American diplomats in Cuba and what participation, if any, they will have in State Department programs meant to foster “engagement” with the Cuban people. The US has in the past asked that its diplomats be able to meet and speak with anyone, but the Castro regime has sharply criticized US programs as engineered to sow dissent.

Asked about how a Havana embassy would function, Jacobson said it will operate as other US embassies do “in somewhat restricted environments”. Earlier this week the State Department official compared re-opening an embassy to restoring relations with countries such as Kosovo or South Sudan.

“We have confidence that when we get to an agreement,” Jacobson said on Friday, “our embassy will be able to function so that our officers can do their jobs. I have every expectation that it will fall within the range of other places where we operate.”

She said that diplomatic programs have changed over the years and likely would continue to, but that those changes would be determined by later talks and conditions.

Vidal also expressed optimism, commending Barack Obama’s decision to take Cuba off the list of state sponsors of terrorism. She said that the diplomats had touched on issues of travel, human rights, migration fraud, marine protections and would in the future discuss health issues as well.

Although neither diplomat would discuss specifics, the Cuban delegation’s trip to Washington occasioned other signs of the warming relations between nations. The US granted a license to a bank to satisfy Cuba’s longstanding demand for renewed services for its diplomats; officials declined to identify the bank, saying Cuba would do so “soon”.

For the first time, Cuban reporters attended the White House press briefing on Thursday, and press secretary Josh Earnest said that Obama “would relish” the chance to visit Havana. Cuba’s place on the list of state sponsors of terrorism will expire on 29 May, barring opposition from the Senate or House of Representatives, the latter of which has already retired for a recess lasting into June.