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US, Cuba to engage in normalisation talks
11:13 am, Wed December 17, 2014
This photograph of US President Obama and President Raul Castro of Cuba, at the funeral of Nelson Mandela a year ago, got tongues wagging about the appropriateness of the handshake, and the possible implications for relations between the two nations.
American officials have announced that the United States Cuba will begin talks to normalise diplomatic ties between the two nations shortly. This would represent a historic shift in relations between the two countries, which have had a mostly hostile attitude towards each other, since the 1950 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.
That hostility has been underlined by the more than 50 year-old economic embargo imposed on the communist nation by the United States.
In a clear sign of how quickly the Obama Administration intends to proceed, American officials have told US media that the US is looking to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months.
The moves are part of a deal that saw the release of American Alan Gross by Cuba and includes the release of three Cubans jailed in Florida for spying.
US President Barack Obama is making a statement later today.
11:13 am, Wed December 17, 2014
This photograph of US President Obama and President Raul Castro of Cuba, at the funeral of Nelson Mandela a year ago, got tongues wagging about the appropriateness of the handshake, and the possible implications for relations between the two nations.
American officials have announced that the United States Cuba will begin talks to normalise diplomatic ties between the two nations shortly. This would represent a historic shift in relations between the two countries, which have had a mostly hostile attitude towards each other, since the 1950 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.
That hostility has been underlined by the more than 50 year-old economic embargo imposed on the communist nation by the United States.
In a clear sign of how quickly the Obama Administration intends to proceed, American officials have told US media that the US is looking to open an embassy in Havana in the coming months.
The moves are part of a deal that saw the release of American Alan Gross by Cuba and includes the release of three Cubans jailed in Florida for spying.
US President Barack Obama is making a statement later today.