MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Hillary Clinton admits failure of US policy towards Cuba

“We are continuing to look for productive ways forward, because we view the present policy as having failed.

United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday US policy toward Cuba has failed as she welcomed an ”overture'' from President Raul Castro to talk about “everything” including human rights and political prisoners.

”We are continuing to look for more productive ways going forward because President (Barack) Obama and I and the administration view the present policy to Cuba as having failed,'' Clinton told a town hall meeting in the Dominican Republic.

Commenting on Cuban President Raul Castro's assertion Thursday that Havana was prepared to discuss anything Washington wants, Clinton said, “We see Raul Castro's comment as a very welcome overture. We are taking a very serious look at it, and we will consider how we intend to respond”.

“We are continuing to look for productive ways forward, because we view the present policy as having failed. Engagement is a useful tool to advance our national interests” she continued at a press conference in Santo Domingo next to President Leonel Fernandez.

Clinton's remarks followed Castro's statement at a summit in Venezuela a day earlier.

“We have sent word to the US government in private and in public that we are willing to discuss everything -- human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners, everything” said Raul Castro. His comments came after Obama said he was loosening restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba by Cuban Americans.

Clinton traveled from Haiti to the Dominican Republic Friday before heading to the 34-nation Fifth Summit of Americas in port Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, where she will join President Obama.

Dominican President Fernandez said that Castro's offer and Obama's calls are “recognition of the fact that the previous policies have failed”. He added the “Cold War ended in 1991 and was prolonged unsuccessfully in the Caribbean region. President Barack Obama is paving a new road”.

Fernandez added “we are happy to see Raul Castro has adopted a significant symbolic gesture, which is what we need”. The Dominican Republic recently visited Cuba and had an interview with the ailing leader of the Cuban revolution, Fidel Castro.

The town hall meeting came after Clinton visited neighboring Haiti where she assured residents there that the latest aid from the United States is more than a short-term fix.

Clinton told reporters that she and Obama aim to help create jobs and ensure stability in a country that has had little of either in recent years.

Hillary Clinton also said the US is considering requests to halt temporarily deportations of an estimated 30.000 Haitians from the United States. Haiti fears deportations would cost it much-needed remittances and force it to absorb even more people into its broken economy.

Under the Temporary Protected Status deportations to countries that have suffered natural disasters or conflicts can be blocked. The status currently applies to immigrants from Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, Burundi, Somalia and Sudan.