US welcomes Cuban 'overture' on talks

Santo Domingo,April 18 (DPA) US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Friday welcomed the 'overture' from Cuban President Raul Castro, who said he is willing to hold talks about 'everything' in relations between the two countries.

'We welcome this overture. We are taking a very serious look, and we will consider how we intend to respond,' Clinton said in the Dominican Republic.

Castro had earlier said his government is ready 'to discuss everything' with the United States, including human rights issues, freedom of the press and political prisoners, days after President Barack Obama announced an easing of sanctions on the communist

island.

Clinton was to join Obama at the Summit of the Americas Friday in Trinidad and Tobago, where the United States is likely to hear calls from Latin American leaders to end decades of Cold War-era sanctions. Clinton acknowledged that US policy has failed to bring change in Cuba.

'We are continuing to look for productive ways forward because we view the present policy as having failed,' Clinton said.

At a press conference with Clinton, Dominican President Leonel Fernandez welcomed the top US diplomat's remarks 'of great value.'

'It takes courage to admit that the previous policy of the United States towards Cuba has failed,' he said. 'A policy that has not delivered results in 50 years, we have to take that as a failure.'

US State Department spokesman Robert Wood said the United States has taken some 'very bold steps' and would like to see Havana respond by ending repressive domestic policies and allow greater freedom of speech.

'If the Cuban government's interested in having a substantive, serious dialogue with the United States, it needs to address not just concerns of the United States and other countries, but of the Cuban people,' Wood said.

'There needs to be some reciprocation on the side of the Cuban government,' he added.

Cuba, at Washington's behest, is not a member of the Organization of American States (OAS) and will not be attending the summit. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a populist critic of the United States, has signalled that he intends to confront the US delegation

over American policy.

Fernandez, who visited Cuba and met with Fidel Castro in early March, praised Obama for paving 'a new road, a new hope and new relations with Cuba and with the whole of Latin America.'

Obama Monday announced he was lifting all restrictions on Cuban Americans travelling and sending money back to their home country, reversing policies tightened by former president George W. Bush.

Obama also expanded communications links and allowed more humanitarian donations to Cuba in a shift in policy geared towards bringing about democratic change to the island.

Cuba was suspended from the OAS in 1962 under pressure from Washington. Latin American countries have almost unanimously pressured Washington to put an end to the embargo.