HAVANA, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The United States continues to pursue its long-term goal of dominating Cuba, despite the recent diplomatic rapprochement between the two, according to a veteran political observer.

Cuban journalist Nicanor Leon Cotayo, 76, who has covered U.S.-Cuba ties for state daily Granma and the Havana-based news agency Prensa Latina, told Xinhua in an interview that instead of sticking to its stated objective, the U.S. may have changed its strategy towards Cuba.

"The current rapprochement, which began on Dec. 17, has not substantially altered the goal. The means, or the strategy, has changed, but not the substance, nor the strategic objective of U.S. power," said Leon Cotayo.

"Since the 18th century, the United States has not hidden its interest in taking over Cuba. That interest is expressed in documents and presidential declarations," said the political observer, who has written dozens of books on the subject.

While the two countries have agreed to restore diplomatic ties after years of animosity, he said, Cuba's Communist Party leadership and socialist economic system present a problem for Washington.

"U.S. governments never accepted the existence of the (1959) Cuban Revolution, and they never will. Nor will they renounce their intention to overturn it at some point," said Leon Cotayo.

That political objective was enshrined on March 17, 1960, when then U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower approved a covert program to topple the island's nascent revolutionary government.

Washington's ongoing five-decade trade embargo against Cuba is another sign of the continued U.S. attempt to sink the country economically, he said.

While restoring diplomatic relations is a positive step, the journalist believes that "we can't see truly normal ties between the two countries, but ties that have entered a new phase" in Washington's objective.

Leon Cotayo said he counted himself as one of those "who applaud the current process of bilateral rapprochement," which is expected to have a favorable economic impact on Cuba.

Still, the island nation cannot let its guard down because "the subversion is going to continue," though via more "sophisticated methods," warned Leon Cotayo, adding "I'm not a pessimist, I'm a realist."