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17Dec14

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U.S. to start talks with Cuba to normalize ties

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The United States and Cuba are taking "historic steps" to normalize relations, including opening an embassy in Havana, easing trade and travel restrictions and putting to rest one most enduring Cold War standoffs, the White House said Wednesday.

The landmark initiatives -- that could reorder the political landscape in Latin America and beyond -- is a result of more than a year and a half of secret negotiations with the Cuban government of President Raul Castro.

The plans appeared finally set in motion by Cuba's agreement to release Alan Gross, a U.S. Agency for International Development contractor imprisoned for five years, and to exchange an unnamed U.S. intelligence asset, held for two decades, for three Cuban nationals convicted of spying in the United States in 2001.

Gross, a Maryland resident, left Cuba aboard a U.S. military aircraft Wednesday morning, accompanied by his wife and several members of Congress, en route to Joint Base Andrews. The Cubans have arrived in Havana.

Although Obama has the power to establish diplomatic relations, the move was the latest in a series of steps he has taken to use executive powers to circumvent legislative restrictions, in this case a remaining trade embargo and travel bans against Cuba that remain standing.

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro spoke by phone Tuesday for more than 45 minutes in the first substantive conversation between U.S. and Cuban leaders since 1961, the AP reported.

Moves to close the rifts would mark a significant moment in Western Hemisphere politics.

The United State has maintain various sanctions against Cuba for more than five decades and enmity between Washington and Havana has played a role in affairs across the world -- from snubs against the United States from Cuba's allies in Latin America to the hero's welcome given to then-President Fidel Castro during a visit to Tehran in 2001.

In a stunning acknowledgment, the White House statement said the policies of embargoes and isolation did little to undermine Cuba's communist government and sometimes spilled back against U.S. interests.

"At times, longstanding U.S. policy toward Cuba has isolated the United States from regional and international partners, constrained our ability to influence outcomes throughout the Western Hemisphere, and impaired the use of the full range of tools available to the United States to promote positive change in Cuba," the statement said.

It outlined an agenda of talks aimed at sweeping changes: clearing away barriers to trade and travel and restoring diplomatic relations that were severed in January 1961.

"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," the White House statement said.

At the moment, the United States and Cuba do not have full diplomatic relations, but allow interest sections to handle outreach.

Gross, 65, was detained in December 2009 while setting up illegal Internet access as a subcontractor for the U.S.AID. It was his fifth trip to Cuba to work with Jewish communities on setting up Internet access that bypassed local censorship.

He was later sentenced to 15 years in prison for espionage. Cuba considers USAID's programs illegal attempts by the U.S. to undermine its government.

"We're like screaming and jumping up and down," Gross's sister, Bonnie Rubinstein, told the AP from her home in Texas.

Three lawmakers -- Sens. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) -- left Washington this morning aboard a flight that is returning to the Washington area with Alan Gross on board, according to congressional aides familiar with the plans.

The three Cubans released in exchange for Gross are part of the so-called Cuban Five, a group sent by Fidel Castro to spy in South Florida. The men were convicted in 2001 in Miami on charges including conspiracy and failure to register as foreign agents in the United States. Two other members of the group were released previously after finishing their sentences.

Earlier this month, Obama marked Gross's fifth anniversary in detention with a statement suggesting that his release could open the way for better relations between the longtime foes.

"The Cuban Government's release of Alan on humanitarian grounds would remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba," Obama said.

At the time, Gross' wife, Judy, said in a written statement that he had lost more than 100 pounds and faced a host of medical problems.

The president has taken some steps to ease U.S. restrictions after Raul Castro took over as president in 2010, including lifting travel and financial blocks on Americans with family in Cuba.

But steps to restore ties with Cuba are certain to meet resistance by some groups, particularly the Cuban community in South Florida that remain staunchly opposed to the communist leadership in Havana.

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) said opening diplomatic channels with Cuba do "absolutely nothing to further human rights and democracy in Cuba,"

"But it potentially goes a long way in providing the economic lift that the Castro regime needs to become permanent fixtures in Cuba for generations to come," he told the AP.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) denounced the reported decision to free the three jailed Cubans as an "extremely dangerous precedent."

"President Obama's actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government," he said in a statement.

Adam Goldman and Ed O'Keefe contributed to this report.

[Source: By Karen DeYoung and Brian Murphy, The Washington Post, 17Dec14]

DD.HH. en Cuba

This document has been published on 18Dec14 by the Equipo Nizkor and Derechos Human Rights. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes.