WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. President Barack Obama  asked Spain to send Cuba a message about the need for reform  when he met Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero  earlier this month, according to a U.S. official.  

Six days after their meeting on Oct. 13 at the White House,  Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos visited the  Caribbean island and met President Raul Castro.  

“When (Obama) learned that Foreign Minister Moratinos was  about to go to Havana, he suggested that Moratinos urge the  Castro regime to take steps to reform and improve human  rights,” the U.S. official said on Sunday, speaking on  condition of anonymity.  

The request from Obama to deliver a message to Cuba was  first reported by the El Pais newspaper. Washington and Havana  have had hostile relations ever since Fidel Castro’s 1959  revolution steered the island towards communism.  

According to El Pais, Obama talked of a potential turning  point in the relationship but said it was important for Cuba  take some steps.  

“Have (Moratinos) tell the Cuban authorities we understand  that change can’t happen overnight, but down the road, when we  look back at this time, it should be clear that now is when  those changes began,” Obama told Zapatero, according to  diplomatic sources quoted by El Pais.