OAS Secty Gnrl Urges US-Cuba Talks

U.S.-Cuba talks urged [by OAS SG]

BY GERARDO REYES El Nuevo Herald

Cuba and the United States should sit down to talk about their relationship without conditions and without making the talks dependent on the death of Fidel Castro, the secretary general of the Organization of American States, José Miguel Insulza, said.'

'If talks can begin later, why not begin to talk now?'' Insulza said Monday in Miami, referring to the readiness for dialogue expressed by Cuba's interim leader, Raúl Castro, during 80th birthday celebration for his ailing brother Saturday.`

`First thing is that [the talks] must be without conditions,` Insulza suggested.

'Maybe, during the conversations, conditions will be set; then someone will say: `In exchange for this, we're willing to grant that,' '' he added.

''To maintain the freeze in which hemispheric relations find themselves, particularly the relations between Cuba and its closest and most powerful neighbor, is not conducive to a good solution,'' Insulza said.

Insulza was in Miami to address the Caribbean-Central American Action, a private organization that promotes development in the Caribbean and Central America.