Josefina Vidal, Cuban Foreign Ministry official at the normalization talks with the US delegation, said that it would be a long process but that it had begun on the right foot. Vidal described the climate at the talks as friendly, professional, and constructive. Havana favors a continuation of the dialogue, based on respect for national sovereignty. At the same time, US Secretary of State John Kerry pointed to pending issues in context of the normalization of relations, citing the need to advance what he termed US interests and values and the "empowering of the people of Cuba". teleSUR