The White House has raised the possibility of a precedent-shattering visit to Washington by Cuban President Raul Castro as part of President Barack Obama’s plans to normalise relations with Havana.

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“I wouldn’t rule out a visit from President Castro,” White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters on Thursday, a day after the two governments announced they would restore ties and open embassies after half a century of hostility.

“The president has had the leaders of both Burma and China to the United States,” he said. By meeting such leaders, the United States can better influence countries to better respect universal human rights, he said.

With developments proceeding apace, a high-level US diplomat, Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson, revealed she would travel to Havana in late January for the first direct talks to "begin the process of restoration of diplomatic relations".

Obama, who said Washington would move to "end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests," on Wednesday raised the previously unthinkable possibility of his visiting the island nation.

Fidel Castro, Raul’s brother, was the last Cuban leader to visit the United States. He spoke to the Council on Foreign Relations in 1959 and in later years addressed the United Nations.

Mid-level US diplomats visited Havana on occasion over the years while the countries cooperated on immigration, drug interdiction and oil-spill mitigation. Former US President Jimmy Carter visited Havana in 2002 and 2011, long after he left office.

Republicans vow to block embargo repeal

But despite the prospect of a new era in US-Cuban relations, an end to the biggest obstacle to normal ties between the two countries looked unlikely, with Republicans vowing to block moves to repeal a decades-long trade embargo.

"This Congress is not going to lift the embargo," said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American seen as a possible presidential candidate in 2016.

He blasted Obama's moves as "a victory for oppression" that would reward a dictatorship, and said he would "use every tool at our disposal in the majority to unravel as many of these changes as possible".

Many legal experts, and the White House, say Obama has broad executive powers to ease restrictions on commerce, transportation and banking, even if Congress objects.

But the trade embargo is enshrined in law, most notably the Helms-Burton act passed in 1996, meaning congressional legislation would be needed for it to be repealed.

Obama said he would urge Congress to lift the embargo, imposed in 1960.

But with Republicans taking full control of Congress in January, and with anger still pulsing over Obama's unilateral immigration action last month, his calls are likely to fall on deaf ears.

Obama could also face some opposition from fellow Democrats. While some have backed the president, key figures including Senator Robert Menendez and congressman Eliot Engel have expressed concern.

"I believe that Congress must see a greater political opening in Cuba before lifting the embargo," said Engel, the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

Congressional Republicans have been quick to float other ideas for blocking or at least slowing the thaw in relations with the communist-led island after half a century of hostility.

Their ideas included denying funds to reopen a Havana embassy and blocking the confirmation of a US ambassador.

“We’re going to look at all our options,” said Rubio.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, REUTERS)

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