(CNS): President Barack Obama announced the re-establishment of embassies in both Havana and Washington Wednesday after the American and Cuban governments finalized an agreement. Heralding the embassy agreement, Obama declared: “This is what change looks like”.
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Despite the historic step, the US and Cuba still are grappling with deep divisions and mistrust.
Most of the USA sanctions and export controls against Cuba are mandated by a statutory embargo and various related statutes that Congress has so far declined to lift or amend.
Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, a Republican, accused the president of trying to burnish his legacy “with dubious diplomatic achievements and photo ops”.
Rep. Steve Pearce, the New Mexico delegation’s lone Republican, said Obama’s announcement “rewards a brutal, tyrannical regime, and secures little in return”. Ted Cruz said it was a “slap in the face of a close ally” to put an embassy in Havana before Jerusalem.
Mr Obama has long touted the value of direct engagement with global foes and has argued that the USA economic embargo on the communist island just 90 miles south of Florida was ineffective.
“This is another demonstration that we do not have to be imprisoned by the past”, Obama said in Rose Garden remarks that evoked his long-ago pledge.
Half a lifetime ago, Castro landed in Cuba with his older brother Fidel, Argentine revolutionary Che Guevara and dozens of other rebels to overthrow the unelected US-backed government.
In April, Obama met President Castro during a summit meeting in Panama, the first time the leaders of Cuba and the United States had met in over 50 years. Eisenhower. Since then, officials have been locked in negotiations over terms for opening embassies.
Cuba’s foreign ministry says the chief of the US interests section in Havana, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, will deliver a note Wednesday from Obama on reopening embassies.
While Republicans are likely to strongly oppose large expenditures to improve relations with Cuba, the administration may be able to use smaller amounts to buttress its diplomatic presence there. Obama has partly eased those restrictions on his own, but even before McConnell’s comments Thursday, longtime opposition from many Republicans and some Democrats had made it unlikely that lawmakers will fully revoke the bans quickly.
During her visit to the White House, Rousseff welcomed the end of Cuba’s isolation. The quicker that happens, the better for the United States as well as the Cuban people.
The two countries’ surprise revelation last December that they would move toward normal relations has been followed by other steps. The missions are technically under the protection of Switzerland, and do not enjoy the same status as embassies.
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The U.S. and Cuba confirmed the restoration of bilateral ties and reopening of their embassies on July 20. Those emotions are understandable, but ultimately they are rooted in a lost battle; it is time for Cuba and the U.S.to move on. A confirmation vote will not occur unless it is scheduled by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who in recent months has criticized a harmonizing of relations with Cuba.
