Yesterday, for the first time in 50 years, the US and Cuba reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. The hostile relationship between the two nations was established when Fidel Castro rose to power during the Cold War and has been in place ever since. Now, restrictions on traveling to each other’s nations and banking have been removed. The US still has a trade embargo on Cuba and Guantanamo Bay remains operated by Washington. While some applaud Obama’s decision to relieve the enmity between the two nations, others are protesting the ties the White House is establishing with the communist Castro government. Many 2016 Republican candidates have stepped forward to voice their disapproval, with Marco Rubio commenting that “this notion that somehow being able to travel more to Cuba, to sell more consumer products, the idea that’s going to lead to some democratic opening is absurd.” Do you approve of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries?
The US and Cuba have reopened embassies in each other’s capitals. Will this help end the 5 decades of enmity?
The US and Cuba reestablished their diplomatic ties yesterday by reopening embassies in each other’s capitals. This is the first time both countries have done so since they ended their diplomatic relationship in 1961. Officials from both nations have acknowledged that it will take work to put aside the five decades of hostility. Cuban President Raul Castro commented in a address to Cuban people last week, “A new stage will begin, long and complex, on the road toward normalization.” A US state department spokesman said that there are “still issues we don’t see eye to eye on.” The embargo the US has on Cuba remains for now, and Washington still controls Guantanamo Bay. Despite the many issues that remain between unsolved between the two nations, is this a sign that the relationship is mending?