Washington tiptoes forward

Even without a particularly welcoming response from the highest Cuban authorities (and without any reciprocal policy moves), the State Department is quietly moving forward with the administration’s plans to gradually change policy toward Cuba, by opening channels of dialogue with Cuban diplomats in the United States and testing the waters to see what other steps might come next. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Tom Shannon met today with Cuban Interests Section Mission Chief Jorge Bolaños to discuss prospects for further steps to complement the changes made by the Obama administration in the lead-up to the Summit of the Americas.

The issues on the table include whether (or really, when) the two governments could open talks on migration, drug trafficking, energy, and regional security matters, and whether there are ways to open channels for more cultural and academic exchanges between the United States and Cuba. Many argue that these latter kinds of exchanges must occur if Cuban civil society is to flourish, as the United States has long hoped would happen.