HAVANA, April 20 (Reuters) – U.S. officials met recently with their Cuban counterparts in Havana, an official in the Cuban foreign ministry confirmed in an interview to state-run outlet Granma on Monday.
Axios reported on Friday that a senior U.S. delegation visited the island the week before, saying Cuban officials have a small window to adopt U.S.-backed reforms before conditions worsen.
Alejandro Garcia del Toro, who handles U.S. affairs in the Cuban foreign ministry, said neither party set deadlines or made threatening statements in the meeting, which he called “respectful.”
“Eliminating the energy embargo against the country was a top priority for our delegation,” Garcia del Toro said.
The U.S. officials urged the Cuban government to follow longstanding U.S. policy to lift the Cuban embargo, Axios reported, including compensation for assets and properties confiscated after the 1959 revolution, the release of political prisoners and ensuring greater political freedoms.
The U.S. delegation also offered to set up Starlink satellite services in the country, Axios reported.
Garcia del Toro said that the U.S. was represented by deputy State Department officials and Cuba was represented “at the level of deputy foreign minister.”
Axios had reported that talks involved Raul Guillermo Rodriguez Castro, the grandson of former Cuban President Raul Castro, who is 94 and still wields great influence.
(Reporting by Ayose Naranjo; Editing by Sarah Morland and Iñigo Alexander)
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