U.S. plans to set up embassy in Cuba

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. and Cuba meet this week to talk about the normalization of relations between the two countries. They will discuss removing travel and shipping restrictions, as well as the establishment of a U.S. embassy, among other issues.

The talks take place as the State Department reviews whether Cuba should remain on its list of state sponsors of terror. That consideration is not expected to delay the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana, according to a senior State Department official. In a relatively short time period -- the "coming months" -- the existing U.S. interests section will be elevated to an embassy.

The State Department is conducting its review "as aggressively as possible," according to the official, and is assessing whether Cuba is known to have sponsored any terrorist activity in the past six months or in the future. It plans to make a recommendation to the president in less than six months, and he, in turn, will review it and report to Congress. The outcome of that report could have an impact on any decision Congress makes on sanctions on Cuba.

Another sticking point for the U.S. is the case of Joanne Chesimard (also known as "Assata Shakur"), a fugitive who killed a New Jersey state trooper and was granted political asylum by Cuba. The FBI placed her on its list of most wanted terrorists in 2013 and offered a $2 million reward for her capture. The U.S. informed the congressmen from New Jersey that this case would be raised, and it has come up repeatedly in past migration talks. The Cuban government has not been willing to entertain extraditing her to the U.S. and has not explained its reasoning, even since the normalization process began in December. There are also other Americans in Cuba the U.S. would like to see returned as part of an expansion of extradition cooperation.

There are other areas the U.S. is interested in bringing up, including oil spills, counternarcotics, global health security, and Ebola. The U.S. also hopes to accelerate the pace of the migration talks (which have been happening every six months since 1995).

In the meantime, Alan Gross, the USAID contractor imprisoned in Cuba for five years, and his wife will be seen in the first lady's box at the president's State of the Union speech Tuesday.

Secretary Kerry is expected to visit Cuba in the future, depending on how the normalization process progresses.