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President Obama said the United States will reopen its embassy in Havana and end its "outdated approach" toward Cuba. He said freeing Alan Gross and another American prisoner has cleared the way for the landmark policy changes to take place.
President Obama speaks to the nation about normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba in the Cabinet Room of the White House on Dec. 17, 2014, in Washington, D.C.(Photo: Pool, Getty Images)
The United States and Cuba exchanged prisoners Wednesday as part of a deal to expand trade, increase travel, and normalize relations between the U.S. and its six-decade communist foe, President Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, said Wednesday.
"We will end an outdated approach that has failed to advance our interests," Obama said at the White House. "These 50 years have shown isolation has not worked."
"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," Obama said.
The biggest shift in the American-Cuban relationship since formal ties were severed in 1961 — the year the president was born — includes new rules for banking and financial dealings as well as a general easing of the U.S. embargo against Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana, said Obama and three other U.S. officials.
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The embargo has had little effect on Cuba's regime, Obama said, and encouraging more engagement will help promote reform in the long run. He likened the move to normalization of relations with Vietnam in the 1990s, despite the bitter war of decades before.
As Obama spoke, Cuban President Castro — brother of communist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro — made a similar announcement in Havana. Echoing Obama, Castro said he welcomed new ties to the United States, though differences between the two countries remain.
Obama and Raul Castro spoke by phone Tuesday about the agreement, officials said, the first direct contact between American and Cuban leaders since Fidel Castro took control in 1959. (Fidel Castro, old and ailing, did not participate in the talks.) The three officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
This handout photo from the Twitter account of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. shows Alan Gross arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., on Dec. 17, 2014.(Photo: Jeff Flake, AP)
A surprise intermediary was Pope Francis, officials said. He sent a letter about Cuba to Obama and Raul Castro, officials said, and Obama and the pope discussed the topic during the president's visit to the Vatican in March. The secret negotiations between the two nations were conducted in Canada, the officials said.
The agreement includes Cuba's release of Alan Gross, an American citizen arrested in 2009 on espionage charges for trying to provide Internet service to Cuban residents. The United States, meanwhile, agreed to release three Cubans accused of spying and imprisoned here, officials said.
The American contractor, who has been held in Cuba on espionage charges for five years, is finally headed home. (News, USA TODAY)
Cuba, the officials said, also released an unnamed "intelligence asset" who had been imprisoned there for two decades.
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Anti-Castro Republicans, and some Democrats, attacked the announcement.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a Cuban-American Democrat and the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "President Obama's actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government."
Sen. Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American Republican from Florida and a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2016, said he rejoiced at Gross' release. But he condemned the rest of the deal as "the latest in a long line of failed attempts by President Obama to appease rogue regimes at all cost."
Other Democrats backed Obama. Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada., the outgoing majority leader, said "I remain concerned about human rights and political freedom inside Cuba, but I support moving forward toward a new path with Cuba."
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Also a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, Rubio said he would try to do what he could to "block this dangerous and desperate attempt by the President to burnish his legacy at the Cuban people's expense."
Rubio and other Republicans said the Obama administration should demand democratic reform in Cuba before making any concessions.
"I don't think we should be negotiating with a repressive regime to make changes in our relationship" until Cuba changes, said Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida and another prospective Republican presidential candidate.
The Vatican — which hosted a meeting of U.S. and Cuban officials in October — said in a statement that Pope Francis sends his warm congratulations" on the new agreement. Francis will continue to support "initiatives which both nations will undertake to strengthen their bilateral relations and promote the wellbeing of their respective citizens."
Some changes to Cuba policy — including an absolute end to the embargo — would require congressional approval, and Republicans will control both the Senate and House starting next month. Officials said Obama is exploring what he can do through executive action, especially when it comes to easing the rules of the embargo.
Restrictions are being lifted on one notable product valued in the United States: Cuban cigars (though there will still be limits).
"Licensed U.S. travelers to Cuba will be authorized to import $400 worth of goods from Cuba, of which no more than $100 can consist of tobacco products and alcohol combined," said a White House statement on the new policy.
In terms of travel, the administration statement said licenses will be available for trips related to a dozen categories: (1) family visits; (2) official business of the U.S. government, foreign governments and certain intergovernmental organizations; (3) journalistic activity; (4) professional research and professional meetings; (5) educational activities.
Also on the travel list: (6) religious activities; (7) public performances, clinics, workshops, athletic and other competitions, and exhibitions; (8) support for the Cuban people; (9) humanitarian projects; (10) activities of private foundations or research or educational institutes; (11) exportation, importation or transmission of information or information materials; and (12) certain export transactions that may be considered for authorization under existing regulations and guidelines.
"The policy changes make it easier for Americans to provide business training for private Cuban businesses and small farmers and provide other support for the growth of Cuba's nascent private sector," said an administration statement.
Obama has instructed Secretary of State John Kerry to begin immediate talks about re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, including the re-opening of an American embassy in Havana and high-level visits between government officials.
Supporters of Alan Gross mark his fourth year in a Cuban prison with a protest in Lafayette Park, across from the White House, on Dec. 3, 2013.(Photo: Charles Dharapak, AP)
Gross' imprisonment has been an obstacle to talks about improving U.S.-Cuban relations, including the possibility of easing or even ending the American economic embargo against Cuba.
Cuba arrested Gross for trying to set up an Internet access system while working as a subcontractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The communist state, which regards USAID programs as attempts to undermine its government, sentenced Gross to 15 years in prison.
Anthony Blinken, the newly confirmed deputy secretary of State, told senators during his confirmation hearings that the Obama administration would only improve relations with Cuba after it released Gross.
When Rubio asked about "chatter" that Obama planned to act unilaterally to change actions with Cuba, Blinken said: "The president has views on how to try to move, help move Cuba in a democratic direction, to help support people moving in that direction, and, you know, if he has an opportunity I'm sure that's something he would want to pursue. But it depends on Cuba and the actions that they take."
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