This time for sure, relations between Washington and Havana have taken a new turn. The release Wednesday of Alan Gross, an American held in Cuba for five years, was the signal. Later in the day, the two presidents simultaneously announced that they would normalize relations.
Raul Castro, Cuban president:
"The economic, commercial and financial, which causes enormous human and economic damage to our country, must stop. (...) We must learn the art coexist with our differences in a civilized manner. "
Barack Obama wants to change his policy towards Cuba, the isolation strategy has not worked. A normalization process is underway, which will start in the coming months with the opening of embassies.
Barack Obama:
"We are all Americans. (...) Today America chooses to ease the burden of the past, as it aspires to a better future for Cubans, for Americans. "
This is the Vatican, confirming a real international political weight, which has mediated in this diplomatic warming.
In the US, Obama will have to convince his Republican opponents and a number of Cuban exiles of the merits of his approach.
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