Representatives of Cuba and the United States return on Friday to the negotiating table for the second round of talks on the process of reestablishment of diplomatic relations, which will take place at the State Department in Washington.

We come with a constructive spirit, trying to bring stances of the two parties closer, said in Washington on Thursday Josefina Vidal, general director of the United States Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MINREX), who heads the Cuban delegation to the second round of talks between the island and the United States.

Former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero underlined on Thursday the need to exclude Cuba from the list of countries sponsoring terrorism, one of the issues pending to be resolved by the United States to create the adequate context for the reestablishment of diplomatic relations.

Former chief of the US Interest Section in Havana, Wayne Smith, said in Washington that he feels optimistic about today´s bilateral US-Cuba talks aimed at reestablishing diplomatic relations.

A Cuban press delegation arrived at midnight in Washington DC to cover the second round of talks between the governments of Cuba and the US on the restoration of diplomatic relations.

Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the Unimted Naitons and President of the "Kofi Annan" Foundation will visit Cuba from February 26 to March 1st, 2015, the www.cubaminrex.cu Web site reported on Wednesday.

Army General Raul Castro, President of the councils of State and Ministers, met on Wednesday afternoon with former Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, who is on a visit to Cuba.

A Cuban delegation, headed by Josefina Vidal, Director of the United States Division of the Cuban Foreign Ministry, arrived in Washington for the second round of talks between Cuba and the US.

Army General Raul Castro, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party (CC of the PCC) and President of the councils of State and Ministers, chaired the official function to mark the 120th anniversary of the resumption of the island's Independence War, an occasion in which Raul presented the five antiterrorist fighters with the Medal of Hero of the Republic of Cuba.

The third day of the 17th Habano International Festival will be dedicated today to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the founding of Habano specialized houses in the world.

A Cuban mission will be present at the International Tourism Fair, BTL 2015 (February 24-March 1st), in Lisbon, Portugal, in order to establish a position of the Cuban tourist product in that European market, particularly Santiago de Cuba, Remedios in Villa Clara, and Jardines del Rey, and strengthen bonds with Portuguese partners of great importance for tourism operations towards the Caribbean destination.

Army General Raul Castro, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Cuban Communist Party and President of the councils of State and Ministers, sent on Monday a letter of congratulations to the Cuban children's theater group La Colmenita, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of its creation.

The Seventh Congress of the Cuban Communist Party (PCC) will be held in April 2016 as announced this Monday during the 10th Plenary of the Central Committee of the political organization.

Cubans mark the 120 anniversary of the resumption in 1895 of the independence war against Spanish colonial rule.

Cuban first vice-president Miguel Diaz Canel stressed the significance of community work amidst current transformations, in which the human beings must be the protagonist of every action.