May 31 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. and Cuba have agreed to resume migration and postal talks, according to a State Department official who briefed reporters.

Diplomats from both countries met in Washington yesterday and agreed to resume talks that have been suspended for six years on legal and illegal migration from Cuba to the U.S. The two officials also agreed to discuss the resumption of direct mail service, which hasn’t existed for decades.

The U.S. and Cuba have not had full diplomatic ties in the aftermath of the 1959 communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. Raul Castro formally succeeded his brother as president last year. The U.S. currently issues about 20,000 immigration visas a year for Cubans who apply through a lottery system in the Cuban Interests Section in Havana.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is traveling today to El Salvador to participate in talks on commerce and economic development with Latin American trade partners and attend the inauguration of Mauricio Funes as president tomorrow. She will attend a June 2 summit meeting of the Organization of American States in Honduras at which the possible readmission of Cuba to the group will likely be discussed.

The Obama administration’s decision to propose migration and postal talks with Cuba, and Cuba’s agreement, were a sign of President Barack Obama’s policy of using dialogue to improve strained relations with the communist state, according to the U.S. official who met with a Cuban counterpart yesterday.

Travel Limits Removed

Obama in April removed travel limits for Cuban-Americans visiting family in Cuba that had been toughened by the Bush administration. Obama also ended restrictions on how much money Cuban-Americans can send relatives on the island and allowed U.S. telecommunications companies such as AT&T Inc. to get licenses to operate there.

Leaders of some Latin American countries are pressing Obama to end the U.S. embargo against Cuba, which has existed since 1962 after Castro expropriated the land of U.S. citizens and companies and aligned himself with the Soviet Union.

Before the U.S. takes further steps, Obama has said Cuba needs to do more to ease travel restrictions on its citizens, free political prisoners and allow for freedom of speech and religion. Obama said he believes U.S.-Cuban relations can improve during the Fifth Summit of the Americas in Trinidad in April.

A New Direction

“I am not interested in talking for the sake of talking,” Obama said in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on April 17. “But I do believe that we can move U.S.-Cuban relations in a new direction.”

Cuba indicated at yesterday’s meeting that it would like to explore the possibility of cooperation with the U.S. on counter- narcotics, counter-terrorism and hurricane and disaster preparedness, the U.S. official told reporters.

Until now, cooperation on counter-terrorism has been on a case-by-case basis. Cuba was listed as a sponsor of terrorism, along with Iran, Syria and Sudan, in a U.S. State Department report on terrorism released earlier this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 31, 2009 11:06 EDT