Juan Tamayo, El Nuevo Herald

The Cuban diplomatic mission in Washington will host a meeting with “respectful” Cubans living in the United States, the latest sign of a Raúl Castro effort to warm relations with some of the estimated 2 million Cubans living abroad.

Castro’s push already has sparked a string of opinion columns praising it as a step toward reconciliation, cautiously welcoming it or attacking it as a Cuban government ploy to grab more exile money.

A statement Wednesday by the Cuban Interests Section said the 1st National Encounter of Cubans Living in the United States will be held April 28 in Washington. Details will be sent “at the proper time to those invited.”