HAVANA — Several U.S. experts on policy toward Cuba said Monday that President-elect Barack Obama should make the first move to engage with the communist government and not wait for the island to release political prisoners or meet other conditions.

Speaking in a teleconference arranged by the Center for Democracy in the Americas, the Cuba specialists said negotiations on prisoner releases or other issues can follow an initial meeting.

The independent Washington-based center has repeatedly urged an end to U.S. sanctions and restrictions on Cuba.

The policy experts also said small U.S. steps now toward lifting restrictions could ease open Cuban society and polish America's tarnished image in Latin America.

Cuban officials' "desire for engagement is there and has been signaled repeatedly," said Jake Colvin, a vice president for global trade issues at the National Foreign Trade Council, a business group that opposes unilateral U.S. trade restrictions against other countries. "The engagement comes first and the negotiation comes later. I think we can talk without preconditions."

Supporters of trade sanctions on Cuba, including outgoing President George W. Bush, insist that the communist leadership should release political prisoners and hold direct, competitive elections before the embargo is lifted.

Obama, who assumes the American presidency next week, has said he is willing to talk with Cuban officials and would "immediately" lift all restrictions on family travel and remittances to the island, which were tightened by the Bush administration.

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President Raul Castro has said he would be willing to talk with the new American president on equal terms.

Alberto R. Coll of DePaul University College of Law said there are many U.S. steps that "would only lead to a gradual opening in Cuban society." He said the U.S. refusal to talk with Cuban officials has only slowed change on the island.

The center on Monday released a report suggesting nine themes for U.S. talks with Cuba, including hurricane preparedness and migration.

"American soldiers and scientists, academics, artists and activists have worked for years to build productive relationships with their Cuban counterparts, even when U.S. policy actively tried to stop them," said center director Sarah Stephens. "Now, it is time for our government to join them."

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