Via Vice:
We're Finally Friends with Cuba Again
We're Finally Friends with Cuba Again
December 17, 2014
by Grace Wyler
"After 50 long years of a pretend war, the US and Cuba are finally making up. On Wednesday morning, the White House announced that the US will restore full diplomatic ties with the island nation just 90 miles off the coast of Florida, and open up an embassy there for the first time since Dwight Eisenhower was president.
The surprise deal comes after 18 months of secret negotiations, reportedly brokered by Canada and Pope Francis. Obama said he spoke to Raul Castro on the phone Tuesday and that they finally agreed to put aside their differences. By this morning, relations had already begun to thaw, with Cuba releasing international aid worker Alan Gross, who has been held in prison there for the past five years, on humanitarian grounds. Separately, the US returned three Cuban spies convicted on federal charges in 2001 in return for two American intelligence agents who have been imprisoned in Cuba for decades.
"Today, the United States is taking historic steps to chart a new course in our relations with Cuba and to further engage and empower the Cuban people," the White House said in a statement Wednesday. "We are separated by 90 miles of water, but brought together through the relationships between the two million Cubans and Americans of Cuban descent that live in the United States, and the 11 million Cubans who share similar hopes for a more positive future for Cuba."
Obama announced the changes in remarks from the White House Wednesday. stating that US policy of isolating Cuba—and trying to push the Castro regime to collapse—hasn't worked. "This policy has been rooted in the best of intentions," he said. "It has had little effect."
"We will end an outdated approach that has failed to advance our interests," Obama went on. "Neither the American nor the Cuban people are well-served by a rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born."
Practically speaking, the most immediate change will be the establishment of a US embassy in Havana, and a re-initiation of diplomatic talks between the US State Department and Cuban officials. According to senior administration officials, the current US travel ban won't be lifted immediately, although restrictions will be loosened for certain types of travel to the island, changes that the White House claims will make it easier for Americans to provide business support for Cuba's nascent private sector.
The US will also ease banking restrictions, allowing US businesses to open up financial accounts, unblocking US accounts for Cuban emigres, and loosening limits on remittances. Significantly, the new order also authorizes certain business exports—including consumer communications devices and software—with the aim of connecting Cubans to the internet and spurring private industry growth on the island.
And yes, the changes will also make it legal to import Cuban cigars, or at least a few of them (US travelers won't be able to bring back more than $100 of tobacco and alcohol products)."
