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Caribbean-Latin America
US, Cuba restoring diplomatic ties
2015-07-02
Havana/Washington - The United States and Cuba are set to announce the restoration of diplomatic relations on Wednesday, the result of a two-year courtship between former Cold War rivals who severed ties in 1961.

The senior US diplomat in Havana on Wednesday delivered a letter from President Barack Obama addressed to Cuban President Raul Castro about the restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries. The text of the letter was not immediately disclosed. Jeffrey DeLaurentis, chief of the US interests section, handed the letter to Cuba’s interim foreign minister, Marcelino Medina, at the Cuban foreign ministry. The two shook hands in front of a Cuban and a US flag.

The Cuba deal marks a major achievement for Obama,
...and a moral semi-disaster for America...
who has been criticised for foreign policy stumbles, especially in the Middle East. It follows his recent victory in a congressional fight for fast-track authority that could undergird a landmark Asia trade deal and comes as Washington appears to be on the cusp of a nuclear agreement with Iran.

Following 18 months of secret negotiations brokered by Pope Francis and Canada, the two leaders announced separately but simultaneously in December that they planned to reopen embassies in each other’s capitals and normalise relations.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is expected at a flag-raising ceremony in Havana later this month, when the US interests section will become a full embassy. Cuba’s mission in Washington will undergo a similar upgrade.
Kerry trotted out for the official photographs. Secret, behind the scenes WH negotiators brokered the deal, not Kerry or Foggy Bottom.
With diplomatic relations restored, the United States and Cuba will turn to the more difficult task of normalizing overall relations. Major obstacles include the comprehensive US economic embargo of Cuba and the US naval base at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay, which the United States has leased since 1903. Cuba wants the 116 square km returned as full sovereign territory.
Would Cuba have to take the Camp Delta detainees?
Obama, a Democrat, has asked the Republican-controlled Congress to lift the 53-year-old embargo, but the conservative leadership in Congress has resisted.
Posted by:Steve White

#1  Yes, I would dearly love to be at that ceremony. I am at odds with most RBurgers on this matter, but this is the big cheese!

My family made a (very) small fortune selling cattle and salt to Cuber after the WBTTS and to US Forces during the Span-Am War. My grandfather honeymooned in Habana, my wife is an honorary warden of an Episcopal church high up on the Sierra Madre. Cuba is part of Florida. Always will be.
Posted by: Shipman   2015-07-02 07:15  

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