HAVANA, Cuba (AFP) — A US delegation was in Cuba, following up on the reestablishment of normal telecommunications links as part of their bid to normalise relations, authorities said Wednesday.

The team was being led by Daniel Sepulveda, deputy assistant secretary of state and coordinator for international communications and information policy, the communications ministry said.

Deputy Communications Minister Jose Luis Perdomo briefed Sepulveda and his colleagues on Cuba’s computer systems and cybersecurity, a ministry statement added.

Earlier this month, Cuba’s state phone company Etecsa said a direct interconnection had been established with the United States, initially for international voice calls, for the first time since 1999.

The connection was set up through a February deal signed with New Jersey-based firm IDT Domestic Telecom.

It was the first agreement signed between Cuban and American companies since the announcement on December 17 that the two countries would renew diplomatic ties after more than 50 years of hostility.

The telephone link between the two countries has been interrupted and restored numerous times since Fidel Castro came to power in the Cuban Revolution in 1959 and began nationalising American-owned companies in the 1960s.

But this is the first time the connection has been restored since February 25, 1999, according to Cuban authorities.