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| US, Cuba to Restore Diplomatic Rela |
| US, Cuba to Restore Diplomatic Relations After 50 Years
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| UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
, 17-December-2014
12:15:12 PM |
| President Barack Obama was set to announce that the United States and Cuba are moving to normalize diplomatic relations more than 50 years after they were severed, the biggest U.S. policy shift in decades of hostile ties with the island.
Obama was set to announce the changes in an announcement at 12 p.m. (1700 GMT). Previewing his announcement, U.S. officials said the United States and Cuba would move to open embassies in each other's capitals.
Obama spoke on Tuesday to Cuban President Raul Castro to discuss the changes in a call that lasted nearly an hour. Castro was due to speak in Cuba at the same time as Obama.
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The shift will mean a relaxation in the flow of commerce and transportation by the United States to Cuba, the officials said.
The two countries have been ideological foes since soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Raul Castro's older brother, Fidel Castro, to power. Washington and Havana have no diplomatic relations and the United States has maintained a trade embargo on Cuba for more than 50 years.
Washington's policy has survived the end of the Cold War as the United States pushes for democratic reform in Cuba.
As part of a prisoner swap under the new policy, Cuba freed American Alan Gross in exchange for three Cubans held by the United States, the officials said. Cuba is also releasing a U.S. intelligence agent held for nearly 20 years.
"These steps will be the most significant changes to our Cuba policy in more than 50 years," a senior administration official told reporters of the measures to be announced by Obama.
"What we are doing is beginning the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba."
The official said the United States and Cuba would initiate high-level contacts and visits with Cuba.
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