WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) -- U.S. Assistant
Secretary of State Tom Shannon met with Cuba's representative Jorge Bolanos
in Washington on Monday afternoon, in an effort to seek the so-called new
beginning for Washington-Havana relations.
U.S. State Department has confirmed the meeting, the
first after President Barack Obama called for a new beginning between the United
States and Cuba at the Fifth Summit of the Americas, held in mid April in
Trinidad and Tobago.
"And this afternoon, Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon
is going to meet with the head of the Cuba interests section for a meeting at a
mutually convenient location," spokesman Robert Wood told reporters at the daily
press briefing.
But the spokesman tuned down the meeting's
significance, saying the Obama administration has actually had "periodic
contact" with representatives of the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. The
previous one was held on April 13.
No details on the Shannon-Bolanos meetings have been
revealed yet.
The United States and Cuba have not had formal
diplomatic relations since 1961, following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, but they
opened interests sections in each other's capitals in 1977 to deal with consular
affairs.
At the Americas summit, President Obama told his
Latin American counterparts that the United States has been prepared to engage
in a dialogue with Havana that includes human rights, democratic reform and
economic issues.
"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba. I
know there is a longer journey that must be traveled to overcome decades of
mistrust. But there are critical steps we can take toward a new day," said the
president.
Ahead of his departure for the summit, Obama
announced easing restrictions for Cuban-Americans on travel and remittance back
to Cuba.
The Washington Post-ABC News poll showed on Monday
that most Americans approve of Obama's initial forays into revising the
country's Cuba policy, and many advocate pushing further, to diplomatic
relations and an end to the trade embargo and travel ban.
