The United States rebuffed a Cuban demand to be taken off the US list of state sponsors of terror Friday as they opened a second round of historic talks to restore long severed diplomatic ties. US Secretary of State John Kerry said the terror designation, in place since 1982, would be reviewed separately but was not a matter for negotiation. "The state sponsored terrorism designation is a separate process, it is not a negotiation," he said.
"And that evaluation will be made appropriately and nothing will be done with respect to the list until the evaluation is completed." A top Cuban foreign ministry official, Gustavo Machin, had argued before the start of the latest round of talks that the terror designation was in "contradiction" with full diplomatic relations. The issue has practical as well as symbolic importance to the Cubans because the designation complicates its access to the global banking system.
Friday's talks at the State Department are only the second since President Barack Obama and Cuba's President Fidel Castro surprised the world in December with their decision to restore ties after more than a half century of Cold War enmity. The hope is that within the coming months, both nations will agree to reopen embassies in each other's capitals and appoint full-fledged ambassadors. Currently they operate through so-called interests sections in Havana and Washington.
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