The United States and Cuba Begin Restoring Relations
The United States and Cuba on Dec. 17 took their most assertive step in several decades toward normalizing relations. The most important announcements concerned the resumption of high-level political discussions focused on renewing formal diplomatic ties between the countries, which have been nonexistent since 1961. Cuban and U.S. officials will hold high-level meetings in the coming months, and the two countries will work toward establishing embassies in Havana and Washington. The United States will also immediately relax some sanctions on trade and travel to Cuba. President Barack Obama announced that the United States would loosen certain restrictions on financial transactions with Cuba, remove some restrictions on U.S. citizens traveling to Cuba, and authorize the export of certain goods to the Cuban private sector. The U.S. State Department will also review Cuba's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism. Obama has the legal authority to immediately implement the measures he announced, but he left the issue of formally lifting the trade embargo up to Congress. Together, the announcements signaled a gradual process of reopening Cuba to the United States.
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Havana has much to gain from starting such a process, especially at a time when its regional partner, Venezuela, faces severe instability. Cuba fears that a declining Venezuelan economy will limit one of the island nation's sources of financing and low-cost petroleum shipments while it is attempting to transition toward a new leadership and economic model.
However, a formal end to the embargo is a long way off. The United States' Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 requires visible progress toward Cuban concessions such as liberalizing political activity, holding free elections and dissolving state security bodies. Nonetheless, the measures announced by Obama will allow the administration to deepen ties with Havana before it approaches Congress to request the lifting of sanctions. Talks between U.S. and Cuban officials will continue into the next year, with the April summit of the Organization of American States serving as the largest public forum at which the two sides can meet. Given Cuban President Raul Castro's advanced age, it is likely the talks will discuss an eventual political transition in the country.
A more immediate question is how the budding rapprochement between the United States and Cuba will affect the behavior of Venezuela, Cuba's most important ally in Latin America.
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