Cuba shows interest in talks, says congressional delegation
Group visit was first face-to-face meeting with new president
WASHINGTON – The Castro government is interested in talking to the United States, a delegation of black members of Congress said Tuesday, returning from a five-day trip to Cuba where they met with Raul and Fidel Castro.
But members of the Congressional Black Caucus said they didn’t discuss whether Cuba was prepared to offer any concessions in return.
“We didn’t get into any of the details,” said caucus chairwoman Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif., who led the trip. “We just want to see a dialogue. You don’t have to offer anything to talk.”
The group of seven lawmakers, which included six members of the Congressional Black Caucus, spent four hours with Raul Castro, including dinner. Three members met separately with Fidel Castro at his home.
The visit marked the first meeting between Raul Castro and U.S. lawmakers since he took the helm of the country a year ago, and the first with the elder Castro since he took ill in 2006.
“It’s time to talk to Cuba,” Lee said. “We are convinced, based on the meetings, that the Cubans do want dialogue, they do want talks and they do want normal relations with the United States of America, and I believe it’s in the United States’ best interest to do that.”
The visit came as President Barack Obama is expected to soon ease family travel and remittances restrictions to Cuba and as both chambers of Congress consider bills that would permit all Americans to travel freely to Cuba.
“This is the dawning of a new day,” said Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill.
The members of Congress said they plan to brief Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the trip – and push the administration to go further.
Lee called Obama’s plan to lift family restrictions “a necessary first step.” Obama said during the campaign that he does not plan to lift the decades-old economic embargo against the island.
Supporters of current U.S. policy say Cuba must make concessions such as scheduling free elections and releasing political prisoners before the United States makes a move.
Groups that support current U.S. policy had called on the delegation to visit with black political prisoners on the island, but Rep. Mel Watt, D-N.C., said the group was interested in “cultivating a discussion to be able to talk about the issues Afro-Cubans are raising.”
The lawmakers did not meet with any Cuban dissidents.