On Wednesday, José Ramón Cabañas, Havana, Cuba's representative in Washington, recommended that the United States government consider calls for rapprochement with the communist country.

"There is no relationship between what U.S. society does, feels and says," Cabañas, head of the Cuban Interests section, told reporters, according to EFE. "It does not reflect on what the authorities are doing."

According to Cabañas, "the [U.S.] government should reflect that interest of the will of civil society." He added that there are favorable economic movements taking place in Cuba.

Cabañas also argued that Cuba never asked for the embargo that the United States imposed on it over 50 years ago. Instead, he said that his country "is open to having a normal relationship."

"We've waited 55 years, and if nothing is decided we will wait 55 more and when 22 U.S. presidents have come and gone after the revolution ... we'll sit down and talk," the representative continued.

Last week, Tom J. Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, visited Havana following a letter sent to President Barack Obama by "political figures" calling for rapprochement, EFE reports.

Currently, there are three Cuban intelligence agents being held in U.S. prisons. They are members of the "Cuban Five," who were convicted in 2001 by a jury in Miami (the other two members have since been paroled and returned to Cuba). Before talking to reporters, Cabañas attended an event calling for the Cubans' release. He said that the Cuban government is interested in discussing a deal with the U.S. government to release the prisoners in exchange for Alan Gross, a U.S. government contractor who was sentenced to 15 years in a Havana jail at the end of 2009 for possession of communications equipment. According to EFE, the U.S. has rejected the idea thus far, calling for the unconditional release of Gross.

---

Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.