US, Cuba to embark on 'new chapter' of relations

Diplomatic ties to be restored, US to seek easing of trade embargo
The Straits Times, 18 Dec 2014

WASHINGTON - United States President Barack Obama said a "new chapter" had been opened in Washington's ties with Cuba, as the two countries made a historic breakthrough in their Cold War stand-off yesterday.

The two countries have moved to revive diplomatic ties, while the US will seek to ease a five-decade long trade embargo against its communist foe.

In a speech at the White House, Mr Obama said the thaw in relations is being made after he determined the "rigid" and outdated policy of the past failed to have an impact on Cuba.

"Today, we are making these changes because it is the right thing to do. Today, America chooses to cut loose the shackles of the past, so as to reach for a better future, for the Cuban people, for the American people, for our entire hemisphere, and for the world," he said.

Mr Obama has instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to discuss the normalising of diplomatic ties with Cuba, and to review Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.

US officials said Mr Obama was also ready to negotiate terms for re-opening the American embassy in Cuba that has been closed since 1961.

The policy shift came after the release of American contractor Alan Gross, who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years. He was accused of setting up an illegal communications network.

Mr Gross' imprisonment had been a block to any movement by Washington towards improved ties with Cuba. He travelled on a US government plane back home yesterday. Cuba is also releasing an intelligence agent who spied for the US and was held for nearly 20 years.

Moving in the other direction were three Cuban prisoners. Gerardo Hernandez, Ramon Labanino and Antonio Guerrero - who were convicted in 2001 on espionage-related charges - have arrived back in Cuba.

Cuban President Raul Castro, who spoke at the same time as Mr Obama, said that Cuba had agreed to re-establish diplomatic ties with the US, following the prisoner swap.

"This decision by President Obama deserves our people's respect and recognition," he said.

Although the decades-old US embargo on Cuba will remain in place for now, Mr Obama called for an "honest and serious debate about lifting" it. "Through these changes, we intend to create more opportunities for the American and Cuban people and begin a new chapter," he said.

US officials say the deal was negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, who hosted a final meeting at the Vatican.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS, NEW YORK TIMES

Castro hails landmark prisoner swop with US
Cuban leader praises Obama in rare move as nations agree to restore ties
The Straits Times, 19 Dec 2014

HAVANA - Cuban President Raul Castro hailed a landmark exchange of prisoners with the United States and praised US President Barack Obama as the two countries agreed to normalise relations after more than five decades of hostility.

The US freed three convicted Cuban spies in return for the release of US foreign aid worker Alan Gross, imprisoned in Cuba in 2009, and of an intelligence agent who spied for the United States and had been held for nearly 20 years.

"We need to learn to live together in a civilised way, with our differences," Mr Castro said in a televised address on Wednesday. It touched off celebrations on the streets of Havana as people living on a pittance per day in the communist-run island savoured the prospect of an end to the crippling US trade embargo and perhaps a brighter future.

In a rare nod to a sitting US president, Mr Castro praised Mr Obama. "This decision by President Obama deserves respect and recognition by our people," he said, speaking at the same time that Mr Obama announced his administration would restore diplomatic ties and open an embassy in Cuba shuttered since 1961.

The surprise announcement ended 18 months of secret talks that produced the prisoner swop negotiated with the help of Pope Francis. The historic deal was sealed during a 45-minute telephone call between Mr Obama and Mr Castro on Tuesday.

The enduring stalemate between two countries divided by just 145km of water but oceans of mistrust and hostility dates from the days of Theodore Roosevelt and the nuclear brinkmanship of the Cuban missile crisis.

"We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalise relations between our two countries," Mr Obama said in a nationally televised statement from the White House.

The deal will "begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas" and move beyond a "rigid policy that is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born".

In doing so, Mr Obama ventured into diplomatic territory where the last 10 US presidents refused to go, and Republicans along with a senior Democrat quickly characterised the rapprochement with the Castro family as appeasement of the hemisphere's leading dictatorship. Republican lawmakers who will take control of the Senate as well as the House next month vowed to resist lifting the 54-year-old trade embargo.

"This entire policy shift announced today is based on an illusion, on a lie, the lie and the illusion that more commerce and access to money and goods will translate to political freedom for the Cuban people," said Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants. "All this is going to do is give the Castro regime, which controls every aspect of Cuban life, the opportunity to manipulate these changes to perpetuate itself in power."

Cuban-Americans in Miami, a hotbed of angry opposition to the Castro regime, expressed dismay.

But world leaders welcomed the ground-breaking news. From China to Chile, plaudits rang out. South American leaders holding a trade meeting in Argentina interrupted their session and broke into euphoric applause. China said yesterday that it "welcomes and supports the normalisation of Cuba-US bilateral ties, and we hope that the US can lift its embargo on Cuba as early as possible".

The European Union (EU), which is also moving to normalise ties with Cuba, hailed the breakthrough as a "historical turning point".

"Today another wall has started to fall," said EU foreign affairs head Federica Mogherini.

NEW YORK TIMES, REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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