Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro said today he and three US Congress members had a "magnificent meeting", but he reiterated doubts about the possibility of big changes in US-Cuba relations.
In a column published in Cuba's state-run press, he wrote that he and the lawmakers had a cordial chat yesterday in what was believed to be his first meeting with US officials in several years.
He said he was impressed by their confidence in President Barack Obama, who has said the United States should change its antagonistic policies toward the communist-run island.
The US delegation leader, Representative Barbara Lee, who met Fidel Castro with two other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, said after the encounter they had found the former Cuban leader to be "very healthy, very energetic, very clear thinking".
Speaking at a news conference in Washington later, she and the others said Mr Castro had asked how to best help Mr Obama normalize relations between their countries.
She said their message to Mr Obama would be that "it's time to talk to Cuba" and that Washington must end its 47-year trade embargo against the island that is the primary bone of contention between the two countries.
The meeting with Fidel Castro, which followed a Monday visit by the US delegation with his younger brother, President Raul Castro, appeared to signal Cuba's desire for better US-Cuba relations.
But Fidel Castro said he questioned a comment by Representative Bobby Rush, who said Mr Obama will need Cuba's help to transform the relationship that has been sour since a 1959 revolution that put Mr Castro in power.
"We weren't the aggressors nor did we threaten the United States. Cuba did not have at its disposal some alternative that would permit it to take the initiative," Mr Castro wrote.
As he has in earlier columns, Mr Castro praised Mr Obama, but indicated that change in US policy would be difficult because of powerful opposition.
Reuters