Obama has never met a Communist dictator he didn’t love.

WASHINGTON — President Obama will not send an official delegation to the funeral of Cuban revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, but two Obama administration officials will attend and represent the United States, the White House said Tuesday.

Attending the funeral will be Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes and Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief U.S. diplomat in Havana.

The unusual arrangement represents an attempt by Obama to maintain a policy of strengthening diplomatic ties between the two countries, while not honoring Castro with a more formal show of support from the United States.

“Obviously, so much of the diplomatic relationship with Cuba is quite complicated,” said White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest. “We continue to have some significant concerns about the way the Cuban government operates, including protecting the basic human rights of the Cuban people.”

Earnest described Rhodes as the “principal interlocutor” in Obama’s effort to normalize relations with the communist-run island after six decades of U.S. attempts to isolate the Castro regime. The presence or Rhodes and DeLaurentis is intended to “show our commitment to an ongoing, future-oriented relationship with the Cuban people.”