Ricardo Alarcon, Cuban point man for U.S. relations, dies aged 84

FILE PHOTO: Cuba's President of Parliament Ricardo Alarcon attends a meeting at the convention center in Havana November 30, 2006. REUTERS/Carlos Barria (CUBA) Alos see image

HAVANA (Reuters) - Ricardo Alarcon, one of the most powerful men in Cuba under former President Fidel Castro and a key player in relations with the United States, died in Havana on Saturday evening, his family said.

The former diplomat was one of the architects of the first migratory dialogue between Washington and Havana in 1978, the year in which negotiations also began with a group of representatives of the Cuban community in the United States.