HAVANA (AP) – President Fidel Castro will let American aid officials assess Hurricane Wilma’s damage in hopes that the US gesture can lead to more cooperation across the region, including between Cuba and the United States – two adversaries without diplomatic relations in more than four decades.

Castro confirmed during a Thursday night television appearance that his government would allow the three US Agency for International Development experts to visit the island.

But he made it clear that his idea in letting them visit was to discuss ways to share information about hurricane preparedness and improve disaster assistance among countries in the region.

The fiercely proud and independent Cuban leader evidently wants his nation to be dealt with as a competent partner in the arrangement, not a helpless developing nation looking for a handout from a much more powerful neighbour.

“We will talk and we will help ourselves in a dignified manner in cases of disaster,” Castro said during his television appearance alongside his old friend, Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona.

US officials have characterised the gesture as an offer of humanitarian help. Any aid offers would be based on what that team found, and all aid would be distributed through independent groups, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Thursday.

But if history is any guide, Castro is unlikely to allow hurricane aid to be sent to Cuba through independent groups, with the possible exception of church groups that have handled hurricane aid to the island in the past.

On several occasions during the 1990s, Cuba’s communist government accepted post-hurricane humanitarian aid purchased through charitable donations – not American government funds – and channeled through US-based Catholic charity groups.

But authorities here became angered after Hurricane Lili in 1996 when boxes filled with humanitarian supplies arrived with scribbled messages they considered “counterrevolutionary,” including phrases such as “For Cuba, love conquers all,” and “Exile.” Those packages were returned.

Cuba has routinely turned down American government offers of assistance during disasters over the years. This is believed to be the first time the Castro government has accepted a US offer to help after a natural disaster, department spokesman McCormack said.

Castro’s idea about the trip seemed to be spelled out in the letter the Cuban Foreign Ministry earlier sent the US Interests Section in Havana, the American mission here, agreeing to the visit.

“The ministry wishes to inform the Interests Section that Cuba has not solicited international aid,” Castro said, reading the letter aloud for television viewers.

“We share, however, the point of view that the United States, Mexico and other countries in the area must mutually help each other in situations of disaster,” the letter agreeing to the visit said.

Castro added on Thursday that he had no objection to the Americans’ visit and would be interested to hear their conclusions. There was no word on when the American aid experts would arrive.

Waist-deep water coursed through the streets of Havana earlier this week, chunks of the city’s famous Malecon seawall were ripped off, and already-crumbling buildings along the coastal highway were battered by high winds and waves.

The unusual display of US-Cuban cooperation was not expected to produce any major changes in relations between the two countries.

The official US policy is to seek a democratic transition in Cuba once the 79-year-old Castro is gone. The US trade embargo dates back more than 40 years, and Castro was waged a decades-long struggle against those sanctions.

Nevertheless, the Cuban leader seemed impressed by the “respectful” tone of the letter offering assistance sent by the new chief of the US Interests Section in Havana, Michael Parmly.

Castro had a particularly contentious relationship with Parmly’s predecessor, James Cason, who he once characterised as a “bully”.