US willing to change pro-democracy programs in Cuba

A senior State Department official, speaking to reporters before talks with Cuban representatives on May 21, said the sides had narrowed differences over reopening embassies since an agreement was reached in December to renew diplomatic relations.

The official said another obstacle had been removed after Cuba found a US bank that would handle the accounts of a restored Cuban embassy in Washington. The official declined to name the bank.

M&T Bank Corp canceled its services with Cuba's Interests Section in Washington in 2013 and Havana blamed the move on US sanctions.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the democracy programs "have changed over time, and they will continue to change over time to reflect a reality, whether that reality is on the ground in Cuba or in the United States."

The programs include courses in journalism and information technology at the US mission in Havana. The United States sees them as normal diplomatic functions, but Cuban President Raul Castro said last week that they were "illegal" training for government opponents.

The official said the programs have already been adapted but the United States would not halt them because they were the most direct way of supporting ordinary Cubans.

The talks in Washington on May 21 are the fourth round since US President Barack Obama and Castro agreed on December 17 to restore diplomatic relations, which were severed in 1961 during the Cold War.

They will focus on upgrading the "interests sections" in Washington and Havana to embassies. Washington also wants an end to restrictions on the movement of its diplomats in Havana and the removal of Cuban security police around its premises.

Cuba signaled on May 18 that it was ready to move ahead, saying it did not see any obstacles.