Obama Announces Major Policy Changes in United States and Cuba Relations

On December 17, 2014, President Obama announced major changes in policy between the United States and Cuba.

On January 22, 2015, the U.S. and Cuba held diplomatic talks for the first time in over 50 years. Two other rounds of talks occurred on February 27, and March 16.

Still, there are major issues preventing real progress:

  • U.S. economic sanctions on Cuba - Cuba wants the sanctions reduced or removed
  • The U.S. presence at the Guantanamo military base - Cuba wants the U.S. to close the base and give control of the area back to Cuba
  • Cuba is on the U.S. Department of State's list of nations that support international terrorism - Cuba wants it's name removed from the list (as of May 29, 2015, Cuba is no longer on the list)
  • An executive order issued by President Obama on March 9, 2015 freezing the assets of seven Venezuela officials (Cuba and Venezuela are close allies)

Nov 28, 2016:

The first regularly scheduled commercial flight in over 50 years between Miami and Havana, Cuba landed in Havana today.

Aug 31, 2016:

The first commercial flight from the U.S. to Cuba in over 50 years landed in Cuba today. The JetBlue flight departed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida and landed at the Abel Santamaria International Airport in Santa Clara, Cuba.

Mar 23, 2016:

President Obama delivered a speech which was televised live by Cuban state television allowing Obama to speak directly to the Cuban people.

Read a transcript of Obama's speech on the whitehouse.gov website here or the Time website here.

After the speech, Obama met with about a dozen social and political activists where he listened to and discussed their concerns.

Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Paul Ryan said that Obama's trip to Cuba "legitimizes a tyrannical dictatorship".

Mar 21, 2016:

On the second day of Obama's three-day trip to Cuba, the President and Cuban President Raúl Castro met privately in talks, and later stood side-by-side at podiums briefing a gathering at the Revolutionary Palace.

Mar 20, 2016:

President Obama arrived in Cuba, the first time an American President has been in Cuba in 88 years.

Feb 16, 2016:

The United States and Cuba signed a deal restoring commercial air traffic between the two countries.

Dec 17, 2015:

The United States and Cuba agreed to reinstate commercial airline service between the two countries. The agreement will allow 110 round-trip flights on U.S. airlines to Cuba per day including 20 flights to Havana and 10 to each of the other nine international airports in Cuba. No date has been set for implementation.

Oct 27, 2015:

In it's annual vote regarding the U.S. embargo on Cuba, the United Nations General Assembly voted 191-2 in favor of condemning the U.S. embargo. Only the United States and Israel voted against.

Sep 21, 2015:

According to information from the Associated Press, the Obama administration is considering abstaining from voting on the annual resolution to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba. By abstaining, the U.S. would in effect be siding with the rest of the world (which has voted overwhelmingly in past years to lift the embargo). An abstention would also shine a spotlight on the U.S. Congress which has refused to lift the embargo, despite President Obama's urging to do so.

Aug 14, 2015:

John Kerry was in Havana, Cuba as the U.S. raised it's flag above the U.S. embassy for the first time in 54 years.

Watch a 17-minute video of John Kerry's speech and/or read a transcript here.

Jul 20, 2015:

The United States reopened it's embassy in Havana, and Cuba raised a Cuban flag outside it's embassy in Washington, D.C.

Jul 1, 2015:

President Obama announced that Cuba and the United States have agreed to open embassies in Havana and Washington, D.C. and re-establish diplomatic relations.

May 29, 2015:

The 45-day period has passed with no action from Congress, so the U.S. Department of State removed Cuba from it's list of nations that support international terrorism.

Apr 14, 2015:

The White House said it will remove Cuba from the U.S. Department of State's list of nations that support international terrorism. Congress has been notified of the decision and it has 45 days to decide whether to approve or prohibit the removal.

Apr 11, 2015:

President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro met and talked face-to-face at the seventh Summit of the Americas meeting in Panama City, Panama.

Mar 16, 2015:

A third round of diplomatic talks between the United States and Cuba were held in Havana.

Feb 27, 2015:

A second round of diplomatic talks between the United States and Cuba were held in Washington D.C.

Jan 29, 2015:

The White House said it has no plans to return the Guantanamo Bay military base back to Cuba.

Jan 28, 2015:

Cuban President Raul Castro announced he wants the United States to give the Guantanamo Bay military base back to Cuba before relations between Cuba and the U.S. are "normalized". Castro also said he wants the U.S trade embargo with Cuba lifted, and he wants Cuba removed from the U.S. State Sponsors of Terrorism list.

Jan 23, 2015:

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson held a meeting with Cuban dissidents.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson held a press conference in Havana, discussing the results of two days of talks.

Jan 22, 2015:

Diplomatic talks between the United States and Cuba ended today. The talks were led by U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta S. Jacobson and Cuba's Josefina Vida who is head of the Foreign Ministry´s North American affairs division.

Jan 20, 2015:

The Cuban government stated that talks with the United States scheduled to begin tomorrow are just a beginning of re-establishing diplomatic relations, not to be viewed as "normalizing" relations.

In his State of the Union address, President Obama talked about Cuba:

In Cuba, we are ending a policy that was long past its expiration date. When what you’re doing doesn’t work for fifty years, it’s time to try something new. Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people. And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo. As His Holiness, Pope Francis, has said, diplomacy is the work of "small steps." These small steps have added up to new hope for the future in Cuba.

Jan 8, 2015:

The U.S. State Department said that diplomatic talks with Cuba will take place in Havana on January 21 and 22.

Cuba also freed six more detainees.

Jan 6, 2015:

President Obama insisted the new U.S. policy with Cuba must include a discussion of human rights, democracy, and political freedom. Obama also received support from Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto about the recent policy changes with Cuba.

Dec 17, 2014:

President Obama announced major changes in policy between the United States and Cuba. Along with the announcement, Cuba freed American prisoner Alan Gross and the United States freed three Cuban spies.

Tim Phillips, founder of the conflict resolution group Beyond Conflict, was instrumental in the achievement of this policy change by facilitating a meeting between President Obama and Pope Francis.

Here are the key components of the policy changes:

  • Establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba
  • Adjusting regulations to more effectively empower the Cuban people
  • Facilitating an expansion of travel under general licenses for the 12 existing categories of travel to Cuba authorized by law
  • Facilitating remittances to Cuba by U.S. persons
  • Authorizing expanded commercial sales/exports from the United States of certain goods and services
  • Authorizing American citizens to import additional goods from Cuba
  • Facilitating authorized transactions between the United States and Cuba
  • Initiating new efforts to increase Cubans’ access to communications and their ability to communicate freely
  • Updating the application of Cuba sanctions in third countries
  • Pursuing discussions with the Cuban and Mexican governments to discuss our unresolved maritime boundary in the Gulf of Mexico
  • Initiating a review of Cuba’s designation as a State Sponsor of Terrorism
  • Addressing Cuba’s participation in the 2015 Summit of the Americas in Panama

View Obama's announcement here.

View all the details of the policy changes here.

Source:

(December 17, 2014). "FACT SHEET: Charting a New Course on Cuba". whitehouse.gov. Retrieved 2014-12-17.

Oct 28, 2014:

For the 23rd time, the United Nations General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to condemn the decades-long U.S. economic embargo against Cuba. Of the 188 countries that voted, only the United States and Israel voted against the declaration entitled "Necessity of Ending the Economic, Commercial and Financial Embargo imposed by the United States of America against Cuba".

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