Obama: U.S. seek 'new beginning' with Cuba

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad and Tobago, April 17 (UPI) -- The United States is open to discussions with the Cuban government, President Barack Obama said Friday, continuing the verbal pas de deux with Cuban leaders.

"The United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba," Obama said during the opening ceremony of the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago. The fast-changing parameters of the relationship between the United States and Cuba seem likely to dominate the two-day gathering of hemispheric leaders.

"Let me be clear: I am not interested in talking for the sake of talking," Obama said. "But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction."

Obama this week eased restrictions for Cuban-Americans traveling to Cuba to visit family members and on sending remittances to relatives on the island nation. Cuban President Raul Castro Thursday said his government is ready to meet leaders of the Obama administration.

The U.S. government instituted its embargo against Cuba three years after Fidel Castro, Raul's older brother, came to power in 1959 and began allying Cuba with Soviet-bloc nations.

"We welcome this overture," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said of Raul Castro's comments. "We are taking a very serious look, and we will consider how we intend to respond."

During a news briefing, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said Cuba could take a number of actions beyond "wanting to have a dialogue with the United States," such as freeing political prisoners and permitting greater press freedoms.

"This is not a one-way street; this is a very busy two-way thoroughfare," Gibbs said. "And the steps that can be taken by one country can also be matched or met by steps taken by another country."