Cuba's Communist Party paper publishes U.S. election info notice

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuba's Communist Party newspaper Granma published on Wednesday a U.S. embassy notice advising Americans living on the island on how to register for the Nov. 8 presidential election, another sign of thawing relations between the former Cold War foes.

Granma habitually publishes electoral information for other countries, but this is the first time it has done so for the United States, a U.S. embassy official confirmed.

Cuba and the United States re-established diplomatic relations in July last year after decades of hostility following the 1959 revolution in which Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew a U.S.-backed government.

"Information for the U.S. citizens resident in Cuba," the headline of the electoral notice read, framed in a red box. It went on to explain how Americans should register to vote, either online or at the embassy.

The Granma newspaper is named after the yacht that carried Castro and 81 other rebels including left-wing icon Ernesto "Che" Guevara to Cuba in 1956, launching the revolution. State radio stations also read out the electoral notice on Wednesday.

The U.S. presidential election campaign pits Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton against Republican candidate Donald Trump.

Clinton has signaled she would continue President Barack Obama's policy of re-engagement with Cuba, urging Congress to end its trade embargo against the island.

Trump's would-be policy towards Cuba is not as clear. The businessman has also questioned the embargo, but last week said he would reverse the U.S. opening towards Cuba unless it allowed religious freedoms and freed political prisoners.

(Reporting by Sarah Marsh; Editing by Alan Crosby)

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