US and Cuba are testing the waters

Washington, Apr 27: After United States recently opened up cracks in the embargo against Cuba, the Obama administration is subtly pushing forward with efforts to re open channels of communication with Cuba, say sources in White House and State Department.

A New York Times report quoted officials as saying that 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.

A Senior administration official said that the next step would be to 'test the waters' to check if US and Cuba could develop a 'serious, civil, open relationship'.

The official added that America was 'ready to talk about a series of issues'. However he added that "This thing with Cuba is going to take a lot of time, and it may not work."

While the details and scope of the outreach to Cuba are still being worked out, Obama is facing pressure from Latin America and from his supporters in the country to do more in the to left the '47-year-old trade embargo against the Castro dictatorship'.

ANI