A plan by American charity The Finca Vigia Foundation to save the writer's Cuban legacy has been in limbo for years, but has finally been given the greenlight after U.S. officials lifted their trade embargo with the country.

The decision means documents kept at Hemingway's former home in Havana, which have been deteriorating due to the heat and humidity, can be saved as the organisation is shipping supplies over to build a state of the art storage facility.

The consignment of building materials has been approved by U.S. officials and it is hoped around 9,000 books and a large number of letters can be treated and preserved in a laboratory on the site.

Hemingway spent much of his life at his Finca Vigia home, writing most of his classic book For Whom the Bell Tolls there, but he was unable to return to the country after 1960 due to deteriorating relations with the U.S.

Many of his belongings remained at the house following his suicide in 1961 and Finca Vigia was turned into a museum.