Washington, July 2 (RHC) – The head of the Cuban Interests Section in the United States, Jose Cabañas, visited the U.S. city of Pittsburgh in southwestern Pennsylvania state, where he met with academics, entrepreneurs and with the editorial staff of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, which reported on the meeting.

The Cuban diplomat visited the city at the invitation of Republican Mike Doyle, explains the article signed by James P. O’Toole.

The article states: “In a meeting with Post-Gazette editors Tuesday, Cabañas promoted the potential for trade and commerce that could follow some future change in the ties between the two wary neighbors.”

The article also cites the Cuban diplomat as saying that “there is trade between the counties, but since the Kennedy administration, a variety of legislation, notably the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, has sharply restricted it.”

“Cabañas acknowledged that political circumstances, including the influence of a Florida Cuban community strongly critical of Havana’s government, don’t suggest the likelihood of any imminent change in the geopolitical realities. He said he is optimistic that attitudes of younger citizens of both countries will set the stage for closer ties in the future,” the article reads.

“What I have found this time is completely different from what I have found before,” he said, emphasizing that he was not comparing the attitudes of Washington administrations but the attitudes of ordinary Americans he encounters in a variety of unofficial contexts.”