President Barack Obama announces re-establishment of U.S.-Cuba diplomatic ties
President Barack Obama said Wednesday that it was past time for the U.S. to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba as he announced that the two countries were reopening their embassies after more than 50 years.
He addressed the world Wednesday with the announcement,
When the United States shuttered our embassy in 1961, I don’t think anyone thought it would be more than half a century before it reopened.”
Wednesday in Havana, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief of mission at the U.S. Interests Section, delivered a note from Obama to Cuban President Raul Castro restoring diplomatic ties. The short ceremony at the Cuban Foreign Ministry in Havana ended 54 years of broken relations that began during the Eisenhower administration. Castro also sent a letter to Obama.
“We want to develop a friendship between our two nations that is based on the equality of rights and the people’s free will,” Castro said in the letter read on local TV.
The Cuban Foreign Ministry indicated that hurdles still remained in the thaw of U.S.-Cuba relations due to the embargo that the U.S. has imposed on Cuba. Obama called Wednesday for Congress to lift the embargo that prevents Cubans from traveling or doing business in Cuba.
“Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. I believe it’s time for Congress to do the same,” he said. “We’ve already seen members from both parties begin that work.”
Obama is definitely going down in history not only for his complexion, but as well for his accomplishments.
-Infinite Wiz(@InfiniteWiz)
