Cuba to talk with U.S. on immigration

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Cuba has agreed to restart talks with the United States on immigration and has signaled willingness to cooperate on issues including terrorism, drug trafficking and even mail service, a sign the communist government is warming to President Obama's call for a new relationship after decades of tension, U.S. officials said Sunday.

The breakthrough was announced as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton began a three-day trip to Latin America, for a regional meeting of foreign ministers that Clinton is to attend Tuesday in Honduras.

The ministers have been considering readmitting Cuba into the Organization of American States (OAS), the main forum for political cooperation in the hemisphere, for the first time since 1962.

Obama has promised a "new beginning" with Cuba, and his overtures have included lifting restrictions on visits by Cuban Americans to the island and allowing U.S. telecommunications firms to operate there.

But Obama and Clinton have said the United States will not lift its economic embargo until President Raul Castro's government makes democratic reforms.

The United States has resisted readmitting Cuba to the OAS, arguing it would violate the OAS charter on democratic principles.

But the idea has widespread support in Latin America, where the embargo is seen as an anachronism and a symbol of Washington's historic dominance in the region.

Saturday, the head of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, Jorge Bolaños, formally accepted the U.S. offer to restart talks on legal immigration that were halted in 2003 by the Bush administration, the senior official said.

The talks will be the highest-level contacts between the two governments, and they could lead to dialogue on other topics.

Bolaños also expressed interest in an earlier U.S. proposal to work on resuming direct U.S. mail service to the island, the official said.

In addition, the Cuban government suggested possible talks on fighting drug trafficking and terrorism, and on working with the United States on disaster preparation, the official said. The countries cooperate informally to catch drug smugglers.