The United States and Cuba are moving to normalise diplomatic relations, more than 50 years after they were severed.
US plans to re-establish embassy in Cuba: http://t.co/u2mmnqf52e - @mkeneally pic.twitter.com/qSv9bkGPwq
— ABC News (@ABC) December 17, 2014
President Barack Obama announced the historic shift in policy following an hour-long phone call with Cuba's President Raul Castro earlier this week.
Both countries will move to open embassies in each other's capitals and economic sanctions will be eased, President Obama said.
The policy shift will mean a relaxation in some aspects of commerce and transportation between the United States and Cuba, but it does not mean an end to the long-standing trade embargo, which needs congressional approval.
Speaking to the Cuban people at the same time as Obama made his announcement, Cuba's President Raul Castro said the decision to re-establish diplomatic relations did not mean the main issues had been resolved.
When I visited, super friendly Cuban youngsters were desperate for greater opportunities 'Shift in Policy on #Cuba' http://t.co/zIzSd5BRRZ
— Sudhvir Singh (@sudhvir) December 17, 2014
The move to normalise relations was made possible by the release of American Alan Gross, 65, who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years, Reuters reports.
Cuba is also releasing an intelligence agent who spied for the United States and was held for nearly 20 years, and the United States in return released three Cuban intelligence agents held in the United States.
