Cuba and the United States will exchange ambassadors once the island is removed from the US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism late this month, President Raul Castro said Tuesday.
Castro said conversations on the countries` historic move to renew diplomatic ties were "going well," and that the process would advance after the expiration of a 45-day period -- on May 29 -- for the US Congress to oppose President Barack Obama`s plan to remove Cuba from the blacklist.
"In 45 days, which expires on May 29, that accusation will be lifted and we will be able to have, to name ambassadors," he said.
He made the remarks after seeing off French President Francois Hollande, who met Castro and his big brother Fidel, the father of the Cuban Revolution, on Monday in a landmark visit that underlined the warming ties between Cuba and the West.
But Castro said restoring full US-Cuban relations could only happen after Washington lifts the trade embargo it has imposed on Cuba since 1962, which Havana calls "the blockade," and hands back sovereignty over Guantanamo Bay, where the US has a permanent lease on a naval base.
Naming ambassadors will "extend our relations, but normalizing relations is another matter -- the complete blockade has to be eliminated and the Guantanamo base must be returned," he said.
Obama notified Congress last month of his intention to take Cuba off the terror blacklist, a key point in the countries` negotiations on restoring ties.
US lawmakers now have 45 days to object to the move.
