Resetting U.S.-Cuba relations

Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, made synchronised announcements last Wednesday week that their long-estranged countries would restart cooperation on a wide range of issues.Cuba and the U.S. are separated by 270km of water but an ocean of mistrust dating back to the days of President Dwight Eisenhower, who imposed the first trade embargo […]

Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, made synchronised announcements last Wednesday week that their long-estranged countries would restart cooperation on a wide range of issues.
Cuba and the U.S. are separated by 270km of water but an ocean of mistrust dating back to the days of President Dwight Eisenhower, who imposed the first trade embargo on the island in 1960, the failed Bay of Pigs operation aimed at toppling the Communist regime of Fidel Castro, and the 13-day nuclear brinkmanship over Soviet Union’s missiles on Cuban soil, which the Americans, to the annoyance of the Cuban, call ‘America’s backyard’.
But so much has happened since then, especially after the collapse of the Berlin Wall, that restoring ties with Cuba is no longer politically unthinkable, with the generational shift among Cuban-Americans, where many younger children of exiles are open to change.  
“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests; and instead we will begin to normalise relations between our two countries,” Obama said in a nationally televised statement from the White House. He added that it will “begin a new chapter among the nations of the Americas” and move beyond a “rigid policy that is rooted in the events that took place before most of us were born.”
The historic deal was the highpoint of 18 months of secret talks that produced a prisoner swap, negotiated with the help of Pope Francis and concluded by a telephone call between Obama and Castro. The U.S. will reopen its embassy that was closed in 1961, ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking, making it possible to use credit and debit cards in the island. American travellers will also be allowed to import $400 worth of goods, including $100 in tobacco and alcohol, though normal tourism will remain banned. Cuba on the other hand, will allow more internet access and release 53 Cubans identified by the U.S. as political prisoners, among other issues.
Obama has taken steps to remove Cuba from its list of states that sponsor terrorism, and announced that he would attend a regional summit of the Americas next year that Castro is also to attend.
The watershed deal fell short of lifting the economic embargo, but Obama, who had long expressed hope of smoothing ties with Havana, has ventured into diplomatic territory where the last 10 U.S. presidents, who had the power to unilaterally lift the blockade, refused to go, and that power was codified by Congress in the 1990s.
Cuba said last year that the embargo had cost it about $1.1 trillion in losses; while estimates of the impact on America range from $1.2 to $3.6 billion. Both countries therefore stand to benefit from improved ties. American business will gain, as industries like technology and construction will be able to export building materials, telecommunications and agricultural equipment for small-holder farmers.
The deal will also help shore up U.S. influence in Latin America because the policy of isolating Cuba had long been a defining fixture in the region’s politics, something that caused deep resentment among the region’s governments against the U.S.
For Cuba, though the deal may look like a drop in the ocean, the prospects that it would expand are good.
Cuba maintains healthy relations with most developing nations, and supports many African countries in the health sector, and recently showed solidarity with West African nations ravaged by Ebola, by prompting dispatching doctors and medical personnel to help contain the epidemic. Resumption of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the U.S. will have a redounding effect on many African countries, which in the past often had to defer to Washington on many issues in which Cuba is also involved.
All this may unravel though, with the incoming Republican-dominated Senate and Congress likely to roll back Obama’s efforts. That would be a huge mistake.  This is one of Obama’s far-reaching foreign policy decisions that must be sustained.