Raul Castro wants to talk. (Agência Brasil/Wikimedia Commons)

As the Washington Post reports, in what appeared to be unscripted and spontaneous remarks at the end of a Revolution Day ceremony, Castro signalled an openness to have discussions with with the U.S. with nothing off-limits and an open time frame.

"'Any day they want, the table is set. This has already been said through diplomatic channels,' Castro said. 'If they want to talk, we will talk.'"

Despite the U.S. and Cuba officially having no diplomatic relations since the 1960s, barriers have been lowered somewhat in recent years, with President Obama notably loosening restrictions on travel and investment last year.

The politically powerful Cuban-American exile community, largely based in South Florida, has been a thorn in the side of any policies that could be interpreted as backing away from open hostility toward the Castro regime, but this group is aging and many younger voters of Cuban origin believe in greater engagement as the path toward improving the lives of friends and family in Cuba. Given the fact that Florida is such a critical swing state, this issue can be expected to come up in foreign policy debates and interviews with the two presidential candidates in November's election.

Reach Executive Producer Matt Pressberg here.