Mexico and Cuba agreed to send ambassadors back to each other's capitals and said they were on the way to resolving their differences.

HAVANA - (AP) -- The Mexican and Cuban foreign ministers announced Sunday that they would reinstate ambassadors to each other's countries on July 26, normalizing official relations after a diplomatic spat several months ago.

The two countries still had issues to work out, but they were back on the road to reconciliation, the ministers told a press conference after meeting Sunday afternoon.

''We've made progress and agreed on the importance of working in favor of bilateral relations,'' said Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque.

''There can be differences among friends on certain issues, but these differences can be talked out,'' added Luis Ernesto Derbez, Mexico's foreign minister. ``What we are doing now is working on all this to be able to move forward on the same road.''

Derbez said the two countries would continue ``resolving issue by issue.''

Derbez arrived in Havana at midday Sunday. He was greeted at the airport by Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla, Cuba's vice foreign minister, and then received by Perez Roque during an offering of flowers at a statue of Mexican national hero Benito Juarez.

The visit was part of an effort to thaw a diplomatic freeze created when both countries withdrew their respective ambassadors in May after Mexico accused Cuba of meddling in its internal affairs.

Cuba said it had proof that a Mexican official arrested in Havana was part of a larger political conspiracy to smear leftist politicians in Mexico. Mexico denied that, and said Cuba's Communist Party was holding unauthorized political meetings in Mexico.

Last week, a top Mexican official said that the nation was prepared to normalize its troubled relations with Cuba, but that the island would have some explaining to do first about recent disagreements.

Despite the recent tensions, both ministers said their conversation Sunday was open, direct and respectful and led to the decision to restore both ambassadors -- Mexico's Roberta Lajous to Cuba and Cuba's Jorge Bolaños to Mexico -- at the end of the month.

Perez Roque said the date for the reinstatement was symbolic, as July 26 marks the 51st anniversary of a failed rebel attack that gave a name to President Fidel Castro's cause -- the July 26 Movement -- and laid the groundwork for Castro's eventual victory six years later over the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista.

Historically, Mexico has been Cuba's strongest ally in the region. But relations have become strained under Mexican President Vicente Fox, whose administration has criticized Cuba's human rights record.