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Peter Baker reports at the NYT that in a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, the United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century. 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. “We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect a different result. It does not serve America’s interests, or the Cuban people, to try to push Cuba toward collapse.
We know from hard-learned experience that it is better to encourage and support reform than to impose policies that will render a country a failed state,” said the White House in a written statement. "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."
(Score: 2) by HiThere on Friday December 19 2014, @08:33PM
From Cuba's point of view it's a new market for cigars and sugar, located conveniently close. It's probably also going to become a tourist trap, just like it used to be. Tourists are a good source of cash.
From the US point of view things are less clear. Cuba is much less important to the US than the US is to Cuba. So Cuba is going to need to be quite careful about what agreements it signs.
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(Score: 2) by frojack on Friday December 19 2014, @09:52PM
Given that restoring old cars is all the rage these days, I would expect the Cubans could trade their old cars [google.com] for brand new ones, and maybe pocket some cash along the way.
There is no reason to believe that Cuba is going to welcome a flood of american tourists with welcome arms, nor that they have enough facilities to do so, or the willingness to allow outside external companies to build resorts. They have some very nice resorts (chock full of Canadians), but a 10 minute walk from some of these can put you in squalled areas that make Mexico look like paradise.
Still, its likely to be safer than Mexico.
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