<div><p>HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban and U.S. negotiators will meet in February for a second round of talks on migration issues since the discussions were renewed last summer, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Wednesday.</p><p>He said no date was set for the meeting, which had been scheduled for December in Havana but was postponed for undisclosed reasons.</p><p>The United States has said since December that the talks would be reset for February, but Cuba remained silent about it until now.</p><p>Officials from the two countries met in New York in July, reviving talks last held in 2003 before they were canceled</p><p>under President George W. Bush.</p><p>The U.S. State Department described the renewal of negotiations then as part of U.S. President Barack Obama's desire to pursue a more constructive relationship with Cuba, after five decades of hostility.</p><p>The discussions cover agreements from the mid-1990s aimed at preventing an exodus of Cuban refugees to the United States such as the 1980 Mariel boatlift and a 1994 wave of boat people.</p><p>The United States agreed to repatriate Cuban migrants intercepted at sea, while Cuba said it would clamp down on illegal immigration.</p><p>The United States has pushed for access to a deepwater port so it can safely return migrants and to ensure that U.S. diplomats can track the welfare of those sent back.</p><p>Cuba wants Washington to abandon its immigration policy that gives preferential treatment to Cubans who reach U.S. shores. It says the so-called "wet foot, dry foot" policy encourages Cubans to abandon their homeland for the United States.</p><p>ROUGH PATCH</p><p>U.S.-Cuba relations have improved slightly under Obama, but hit a rough patch after Cuba detained a U.S. contractor last month on charges he brought illegal satellite communications equipment to Cuban dissidents.</p><p>Rodriguez, who spoke at a Havana conference for Cuban who live abroad but back the Cuban government, repeated complaints that U.S. policy remains essentially unchanged under Obama.</p><p>"Obama has not used the prerogatives the president of the United States has to make practical changes in relations with Cuba," he said.</p><p>Cuban officials have pointed to the detained contractor as proof that under Obama, the U.S. continues to try to subvert the Cuban government.</p><p>Obama eased the embargo last year by allowing Cuban Americans to travel freely to Cuba and send unlimited amounts of money to relatives there, and initiated talks on re-establishing direct postal service between the two countries. A first round of discussions was held in Havana in September.</p><p>But he has said the longstanding U.S. trade embargo against the island will remain in place until Cuba releases political prisoners and improves human rights.</p><p>(Editing by Jeff Franks and Xavier Briand)</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=67914011&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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