Cuba grants visa to senior U.S. diplomat to lead Havana embassy

Cuba has given a visato a senior American diplomat to lead the U.S. embassy in Havana, a U.S. official said, in a sign both nations want tokeep open lines of communication despite a sharp deteriorationin relations since President Donald Trump took office.

He is likely to spend about six months in the positionthough the length of his stint is not certain, said the U.S.official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Goldberg would be the highest ranking U.S. foreign serviceofficer to serve as charge d'affaires in Havana, said the U.S.
official.

Move suggests desire to maintain links

The fact that Washington selected a diplomat of hisrank one of the senior-most serving career U.S. diplomats and that Havana accepted him when it could have stalled orrejected him suggests a desire on both sides to maintain links.

The U.S. State Department declined comment. The Cubanforeign ministry did not immediately respond to a request forcomment.

Goldberg, whose selection for the job was first reported inDecember, has previously served as ambassador in thePhilippines, chief of the U.S. mission in Kosovo and assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research.

He was expelled as ambassador from Cuba'ssocialist allyBolivia in 2008 for what President Evo Morales said wasfomenting social unrest, charges that the State Departmentdescribed at the time as "baseless."

U.S.-Cuban relations have deteriorated since Trump took office in January last year and reversed elements of a detentepursued by Democratic former president Barack Obama'sadministration. Trump, a Republican, has tightened U.S. tradeand travel restrictions on the island and reverted tocharacterizations of the Cuban government that echo the
countries' long Cold War-era hostility.

Ties strained after unexplained illness

Ties have also been severely strained by a series ofunexplained illnesses that the United States says have struck 24U.S. personnel and family members stationed in Cubasince late2016.

The United States cut its diplomatic presence in Cuba bymore than half on Sept. 29 and warned U.S. citizens not to visitbecause of alleged attacks it says have caused hearing loss,dizziness and fatigue in U.S. Embassy personnel.

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Washington also expelled 17 Cuban diplomats from the U.S.

U.S. investigators are looking at a range of theories,including the possibility of a "viral" attack, to explain whatmay have sickened the Americans, the State Department said onJan. 9.

U.S. officials have said it was incomprehensible Cuba'sgovernment would not have been aware of what happened or who wasresponsible, though they stopped short of directly blamingHavana.

Cuban officials are investigating the case, but have deniedany involvement or any knowledge of what was behind it.

The U.S. government has not had an ambassador to Cuba since 1960. Washington severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in January1961 after the 1959 Cuban Revolution. In 1977, it set up a U.S.interests section in Havana under the protection of Switzerland.

As part of the detente between Obama and Cuban PresidentRaul Castro, the United States and Cuba restored diplomaticrelations in 2015, elevating their interests sections toembassies. The U.S. embassy has since been led by a charged'affaires, who handles diplomacy in a foreign country whenthere is no ambassador.

The Obama administration nominated Jeffrey DeLaurentis, acareer diplomat with extensive experience in Cuba, to serve asambassador but he did not get a vote in the U.S. Senate. Hestepped down in July 2017 after completing his three-year tour.