New York Times (email)
In a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, who hosted a final culminating meeting at the Vatican, President Obama and President Raul Castro of Cuba agreed in a telephone call to put aside decades of hostility to find a new relationship between the island nation just 90 minutes off the American coast.
The contractor, Alan Gross, boarded an American government plane bound for the United States on Wednesday morning and the United States sent back three Cuban spies who have been in an American prison since 1981. American officials said the Cuban spies were swapped for a United States intelligence agent who has been in a Cuban prison for nearly 20 years and said Mr. Gross was not technically part of the swap but released separately on “humanitarian grounds.”
In addition, the United States will ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking relations and Cuba will release 53 Cuban prisoners identified as political prisoners by the United States government. Although the decades-old American embargo on Cuba will remain in place for now, the administration signaled that it would welcome a move by Congress to ease or lift it should lawmakers choose to.
“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 written statement.
This is probably a very good idea. We have restored diplomatic relations with almost every other “enemy” in the world, including Vietnam, which for me was a hard pill to swallow. Hopefully, soon new trade will exist as well as flourishing tourism. Its much easier to stay made at people than to get along.
Restoring diplomatic relations also should be welcomed by millions of Cuban Americans who probably miss the mother country. Cuba has been an enemy of the state ever since I was a child.
“Restoring diplomatic relations also should be welcomed by millions of Cuban Americans who probably miss the mother country.”
Ummm… I’m not so sure about that. There is a reason they risked their lives to get the hell out of Cuba.
They can see relatives and have freer access to travel. Yes, they did risk their lives to get out. The people I know got out to protect their money more than their lives.
It is about time. Over fifty years of ignoring them have not gotten us anywhere with them, might as well as open them up a bit and let the people know that there is an outside world.
We have normal relations with plenty of bad regimes – Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria (until recent), etc. With Russia on the economic brink and Venezuela having its own issues – now is the right time.
Venezuela is in worse shape thaN I think most people are admitting. Former Venezuelans can’
t get in and out of the country now to see relatives.
“In addition, the United States will ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking relations and Cuba will release 53 Cuban prisoners identified as political prisoners by the United States government. Although the decades-old American embargo on Cuba will remain in place for now, the administration signaled that it would welcome a move by Congress to ease or lift it should lawmakers choose to.”
At least the administration is admitting that it doesn’t have the power to do this unilaterally. Not like were talking about immigration law or anything.
Perhaps the GAP can now start selling Che’ shirts in Havana, just like they do in Seattle, and maybe the millennials there will snap them up just as quickly.
But why stop with Cuba? Wouldn’t want Iran and North Korea feeling slighted.
Screw Iran and Screw North Korea. Cuba is just different. It needs to start identifying with the Western hemisphere.
We gotta get over this bay of pigs mentality here.
” the administration signaled that it would welcome a move by Congress to ease or lift it should lawmakers choose to.”
And just how does the administration “signal”? Is Valerie Jarrett standing on top of the White House facing the Capitol, whik-whacking away with a couple of Semaphore flags or clacking one of those ship lanterns?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hmqIGCqOuB0
Good move by Obama. 50 years of failure is enough.
Do you think the Cubans might just be a tad motivated by the fact that the economies of Russia and China (their long-time allies) are tanking, might have impacted Castro’s desire to “normalize” relations now? So Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Reagan, Bush 1, Clinton, Bush 2, all were “failing” with regards to Cuba policy, but somehow Obama’s got it right? Considering that pretty much every bit of his Foreign policy is a trainwreck, you think this is a good move?
There are those of us who don’t believe that his foreign policy was a trainwreck.
I am not sure why we haven’t normalized relations with Cuba. I am not sure why we normalized with Vietnam either.
Isn’t that the ultimate goal of capitalism? Shouldn’t it triumph over communism? I just don’t want to give the Cubans any money. Let the rich Cubans in Florida support their families over there.
Good move on Obama’s part. It should have been done decades ago.
@Steve Thomas
You know Steve, that is an excellent point and I was thinking along those same lines… Obama’s foreign policy record has been abysmal (to say the least, horrible at best), which is why any ‘good’ feelings I had about this were immediately met with skepticism.
There has to be more to it… eh, I’m sure it will come out soon enough.
The Cubans in America are protesting this, especially since it was done secretly.
The Cubans are the ones that would prevent remittances. In fact, having US money was a crime until recently.
Big business wants access to cheap land and the offshore oil.
Where is this coming from?
The United States has punished itself and propped up the Castro regime long enough. Hats off to the Administration for taking strong action to put flight to these museum pieces of mid 20th Century Marxist-Leninism. I would have expected this from a conservative Republican administration, but many had the opportunity and none stepped forward. I have major disagreements with Obama’s foreign policy, but on this one, he has taken a more market-oriented, pro-US interests policy than any of his predecessors. The previous policy was a classic example of America trampling its own self-interests. 50 years of a failed policy ought to be plenty. My only hope is that they don’t do things by halves and force open the Cuban economy at every opportunity.
Time to put Raoul and Fidel behind velvet ropes in a museum dedicated to failed ideas of the 1950s.
Standing ovation, Scout!!
Actually, Scout, I couldn’t disagree.with you more. It wasn’t the US embargo that “propped-up” the Castros. It was, after the breakup of the Soviet Union and the end of their subsidies, the investments being made by many of our supposed allies, like Canada, Norway, Sweden, and such. Did these investments, along with Canadian and European tourism revenues, topple the Castros? Did this money ease the continued repression of the Cuban people? No. Just ask yourself, who in the US opposed normalizing relations, and easing sanctions the most? It is the Cuban – American community, and this is one of the main reasons why this community has voted Republican overwhelmingly for so long. Carter tried to normalize, and we got the Mariel boat-lift, which was nothing more than Castro emptying his jails and prisons. Clinton tried, and we got several civilian aircraft shot down over international waters.
This is a bad idea.
Moon, Obama’s foreign policy, ie “Lead from behind” has been a boon to muslim extremists, the Iranian nuke program, Chinese and Russian expansionism. He normalizes relations with brutal dictators, and is destroying our relationship with the only true mideast democracy. Obama’s foreign policy is a trainwreck.
I tend to look at it as foreign policy of extending a hand rather than a clenched fist. Do you not think that Bush destroyed our world status? I doubt if we would agree on that one.
As for Israel, no, Obama doesn’t cow-tow to Israel. I doubt that the relationship is “destroyed.” Not even close. He just does a better job of holding Israel accountable than Bush did.
I simply don’t agree with you. I would give him at worst a C+, perhaps higher. You wont convince me, I won’t convince you. Our world views prevent agreement here.
Steve, you confuse volume with numbers when you refer to opinion within the Cuban-American community. Polling data indicate that a sizable majority of that community favors normalization of relations with Cuba. The embargo hurt us, helped the USSR, and completely put the Castros in the driver’s seat within Cuba. Obama can’t undo large parts of the current embargo regime – it’s legislative, as opposed to having the high Executive Branch content that a lot of the other country sanctions programs have. But normalizing diplomatic relations and opening the spigots on banking and travel is a good start.
If there was a problem with yesterday’s actions, it lies in the hostage element. Mr. Grossman was clearly taken as a bargaining chip and we bargained. I have concerns about that. But the underlying policy moves were extremely sound geo-political initiatives that serve US interests in several ways. They should have been implemented eons ago spontaneously by the US.
Scout, I guess time will tell, but I suspect things won’t really change in Cuba, until the Castros pass on. This condition would exist, with or without the embargo. Did the US potentially lose out from an economic perspective all these years? Perhaps. However, that would be blood money.
We just should have annexed Cuba after the war with Spain, and handled their independence the same as the Philippines.
@Scout
“But the underlying policy moves were extremely sound geo-political initiatives that serve US interests in several ways. ”
In what way do those moves help US interests? Any money sent to Cuba props up the regime. And the hostage deal that was just concluded shows that Obama appeases people. You see it in the Bergdahl swap.
@Moon-howler
Bush did not destroy our world status. It was better at the beginning of Obama’s term than it is now. Our standing in the world is horrible. No ally trusts us and our enemies laugh at us.
Previous presidents didn’t “kowtow” to Israel. We treated them like an ally. Now…. Obama treats them like the UN treats them. He “holds the accountable?” For what? Defending themselves?
Steve is right.
The failures of this administration are obvious.
Committing crimes against Mexico with Fast and Furious.
The “reset” with Russia.
The lack of support for democratic groups in Iran.
The failure of the Iranian negotiations and lying to the US about who got what.
Libya.
Failure of negotiations with Iraq and subsequent total pullout.
The surrender in Afghanistan.
Insulting Great Britain, our staunchest ally
Support for the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt.
Our bluster and threats against Syria
Arming Al Queada and ISIS in Syria and subsequently ignoring them as a “JV” team.
All of these are symptoms of the fact that Obama is not a leader.
Israel is not without some fault in some of this. For example, why is Netanyahu allowing some to move back into settlements? Dealing fairly with our allies makes out non allies less suspicious. Unlike you, apparently, I don’t think everything Israel does is in the best interest of world peace. Yes, they have a right to defend themselves. Many people around the world feel that they sometimes overdo it.
The rest of your comments I am not going to debate. We have a very different world view. You are entitled to think that Obama sucks. I don’t agree with you.
I think that 50 years of sanctions were fairly effective. Remember that the Cubans were heavily involved in military adventurism in the region, including Mexico. Even though the embargo did not bring down Castro, it removed the financial resources needed for Cuba to engage in activities that could destabilize the region. It is no longer a major strategic player, which means that the sanctions did their job.
The world is now a different place. From that perspective, the time may be right to consider a new approach. It is always worth the effort to defuse enmity.
Howver, the problem is that it is not clear what the US gets in return. The opening of Cuban markets is unlikely to be a boon to the US economy. It seems that the US should have extracted a concession of some type. That’s where it would have been useful to engage Congress and avoid a major announcement on the day that Congress leaves town.
This looks like a missed opportunity to get bi-partisan support for a new approach to Cuba.
@Moon-howler
“Unlike you, apparently, I don’t think everything Israel does is in the best interest of world peace.”
That’s the problem. You think Israel should be doing what is in the “best interest of world peace”. I think Israel should do what is in the best interest of Israel.
The Israelis show incredible restraint, as rockets and terror attacks are daily occurrences, and Israel rarely responds with the capacity it is fully capable of responding with.
I feel for whomever our next president is, as they try to chart a course forward, in the wake of 8 years of “Lead from Behind”. It would be like trying to pick up a turd by the “clean end”. It may be fitting if that were Hillary Clinton, since she helped make the mess.
One lasting effect of the Obama foreign policy I do believe will have is neither his current nor former Secretaries of State will ever be president.
@Scout
“Polling data indicate that a sizable majority of that community favors normalization of relations with Cuba.”
Scout, please provide this polling data, as the ones I’ve seen refute your assertion. Yes, there are strong generational differences, with the younger ones favoring normalized relations, but the closer you get to the core of the Cuban-American community, the greater the support for maintaining the status-quo: https://cri.fiu.edu/research/cuba-poll/2014-fiu-cuba-poll.pdf
Rand Paul says it was the right decision. He is making sense more and more – and is bucking the GOP’s disagree with Obama at all cost on any issue.
Rep. Charles Rangel is already over there shopping for a condo.
Russia’s economy is on its knees right now thanks to Obama sanctions. Russia will have to pull out of Ukraine. Sanctions are also working wrt Iran. Obama has pot the Islamic state on the run and has killed dozens of terrorists and rescued hostages. Obama foreign policy has been quite successful
@ Steve (Comment #26) – There are a lot of data on this, but I was relying on an Atlantic Monthly discussion that uses the same poll data you provide in your link. I’m not sure how you come to the conclusion that your link to the Florida International data refutes my statement that a sizable majority of the Cuban American population favors normalization. I read the study you cite as saying 68% favor normalization. Scrapping the embargo altogether is a closer question, but that seems to still garner a slim majority within the Cubano community in South Florida.
The Atlantic article is here:
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2014/12/americans-are-totally-ready-for-the-cuban-embargo-to-end/383836/
I think there are some links within the article that might lead to other studies on the same subject.
@Scout
Scout, I guess it depends on how you look at the demos. Amongst Cuban-Americans who are registered to vote, 51% are against normalization. When you look at Cuban-Americans above the age of 35, the numbers are even stronger against.
@Starry flights
“Russia’s economy is on its knees right now thanks to Obama sanctions.”
Russia’s economy is on its knees because the price of oil has tanked. Sanctions have had a marginal effect.
Private US oil production and Saudi production are tanking the price of oil. That is why the Russian economy is crashing. Even then, they won’t leave Ukraine. They CANNOT lose the Crimea or access to it. Since Stalin repopulated the area with Russians, the area is Russian.
Sanctions are being laughed at by Iran.
The Islamic state is actually advancing, now in the outskirts of Baghdad.
“killed dozens of terrorists.” Oh…that’s going to hurt.
“rescued hostages.” Which hostages are those?
“Obama has pot the Islamic state on the run and has killed dozens of terrorists and rescued hostages.”
I think this is accurate, at least at some level. I do believe someone has pot, and has been using it.
But after the smoke clears, and all the Doritos consumed, Islamic State will still be there, raping women and girls, and still holding hostages.
I sure haven’t seen signs that they are on the run. I would like to see more running and less raping of women and girls.
@ Steve – 68% strikes me as fitting my original description of a “sizable majority”. I’ll stand pat on that statement. It’s hard to find 68% of any group that isn’t a “sizable majority” these days.
I don’t doubt that the older the cohort that you look at within the Cuban refugee community, the more controversial the extension of diplomatic relations might become. Once one gets down to the 51% mark even within the group most hostile to the any kind of opening, I’d say it’s getting to be pretty much razor thin on that issue. Besides, the data point that stuck in my mind was that 51% of the entire survey group either favored or opposed (I can’t remember which and am too far behind on my Saturday Honey-do list to go look) the lifting of the embargo, another matter altogether.
“HAVANA — President Raúl Castro declared victory for the Cuban Revolution on Saturday in a wide-ranging speech, thanking President Obama for “a new chapter” while also reaffirming that restored relations with the United States did not mean the end of Communist rule in Cuba.”
Yep…. this is working out just fine. We are in the very best of hands.
What do you expect Castro to say, Cargo? Did you expect the Castro government to fall this weekend? Surely you’re not one of these gullible folks who puts great credence in propaganda from the Castro hermanos.
Obama got it right. It will be fits and starts. But with an opening to the US, the Castros will not have this country to blame for their oppressive security state and, over time, the people will just ignore them. Age, time, and the arc of people realizing how ridiculous and extravagant security regime that fears its own people will take their inevitable toll.
@Scout
You are too smart to think that the Castros will not find a way to continue blaming the U.S. for its woes. Chavez in Venezuala did not need sanctions to cast the U.S. as an enemy. Nor does expansion of relations inevitably result in greater freedoms for repressed citizens. China is a counter example to that belief.
What normalization with the U.S. does accomplish in time is access to foreign markets and cheap labor for US corporations and access to new technologies for the country in question. My suspicion is that some company supported by Obama needs a new market. Maybe Apple needs to sell more iPhones or Major League Baseball needs new fans.
Nevertheless, it is not a slam dunk that normalization will result in new freedoms for the Cuban people.
I’m sure I and everyone else assumes the Castros will keep blaming the US for everything. I assume Obama expects the same. The point is that the more trade is liberalized between here and there, the more contacts that are permitted, the more ridiculous scapegoating the US will become. I haven’t heard anyone calling it a “slam dunk” that the resumption of diplomatic relations will “result in new freedoms” for Cubans, Kelly. I do think it highly likely that the more contacts we have, and the usual actuarial effects on Raul and Fidel, the better off Cubans will be.