US CUBA RELATIONS BREAKTHROUGH
After more than 50 years, on December 18, the United States and Cuba agreed to restore diplomatic ties. A day earlier, after 18 months of secret talks, Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro agreed in a phone call on a breakthrough prisoner exchange, the opening of embassies in each other's countries, and an easing of some restrictions on commerce.
World leaders welcomed the groundbreaking news that the US and Cuba moved to restore diplomatic relations and bury one of the last vestiges of the Cold War after more than 50 years of hostility.
From China to Chile, plaudits rang out. South American leaders holding a trade meeting in Argentina interrupted their session and broke into euphoric applause. The gush of praise for the shock announcement in Washington and Havana -- it emerged that secret talks have been underway for a year and a half -- featured a plethora of terms like "turning point" and "historic day." In making the announcement, President Barack Obama said decades of trying to isolate Cuba and oust the communist regime had failed, and it was time to turn the page.
President Obama promised to urge Congress to lift the trade embargo, imposed in 1960, while using his presidential authority to advance diplomatic and travel links. "We are all Americans," Obama declared, breaking into Spanish. The White House portrayed the US move as a bid to reassert US leadership in the Western Hemisphere. The European Union, which is also moving to normalise ties with Cuba, hailed the breakthrough as a "historical turning point." In Havana, Cubans were jubilant. The breakthrough came after Havana released jailed US contractor Alan Gross and a Cuban who spied for Washington and had been held for 20 years -- one of the most important US agents in Cuba. Havana also agreed to release dozens of political prisoners. In exchange the US released the three Cuban agents, who were welcomed by Raul Castro at Havana's airport as they returned to Cuba.
Source: AFP
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