Above: Havana

By the Caribbean Journal staff

The United States and Cuba are set to continue their newly-launched high-level talks later this week.

On Feb. 27, the US and Cuba will hold talks in Washington, DC focusing on “reestablishing diplomatic relations,” according to a State Department statement.

The talks come after a dialogue held in Havana on Jan. 22 and form what the State Department called “a key step in implementing the new direction in US-Cuba relations announced by President Obama” in December 2014.

Leading the US delegation will be Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S Jacobson, joined by her Cuban counterpart, Josefina Vidal.

The latter is Cuba’s general director at the US Division of Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The eventual plan is for the US to open an embassy in Havana after more than a half-century without relations.

“A US Embassy in Havana will allow the United States to more effectively promote our interests and values, and increase engagement with the Cuban people,” the State Department said. “As with the more complex process of normalizing relations, re-establishing diplomatic relations requires the agreement of the governments of both Cuba and the United States.”