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Cuba-U.S.
relations
change
Cuba and the United States are renewing diplomatic relations after
decades of tension. President Obama on Wednesday ordered the
restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of
an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century.
The surprise announcement came at the end of 18 months of secret
talks that produced a prisoner swap negotiated with the help of Pope
Francis and concluded by a telephone call between President Obama
and Cuban President Raúl Castro. The historic deal broke an
enduring stalemate between two countries divided by just 90 miles
of water but oceans of mistrust and hostility dating from the days of
Theodore Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill and the nuclear scare
of the Cuban missile crisis. The United States will ease restrictions on
certain reasons for travel and banking, while Cuba will allow more
Internet access and release 53 Cubans identified as political
prisoners by the United States. Although the embargo will remain in
place, the president called for an “honest and serious debate about
lifting” it, which would require an act of Congress. Over the years as
the United States built relations with Communist nations like China,
Cuba remained one of just a few nations, along with Iran and North
Korea, that had no formal ties with Washington. The reason for
President Obama’s decsioion can be summed up with his words,
“through a policy of engagement, we can more effectively stand up
for our values and help the Cuban people help themselves.”
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