U.S., Cuba agree to restore diplomatic relations

Opening embassies in each of the two countries’ respective capitols is latest step towards normalization of trade and travel relations with Cuba.    President Obama announced Wednesday that the U.S. and Cuba have agreed to establish embassies in their respective capitals, putting the two countries another step closer to normalizing relations. The announcement comes six months after President Obama began opening ties to the Communist island nation.
   “This is an historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people, and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas,” Obama said in a speech this morning. “When the United States shuttered our embassy in 1961, I don’t think anyone expected that it would be more than half a century before it reopened. After all, our nations are separated by only 90 miles, and there are deep bonds of family and friendship between our people, but there have been very real, profound differences between our governments, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped by a certain way of doing things. For the United States, that meant clinging to a policy that was not working. Instead of supporting democracy and opportunity for the Cuban people, our efforts to isolate Cuba, despite good intentions, increasingly had the opposite effect, cementing the status quo and isolating the United States from our neighbors in this hemisphere.
   “The progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. When something isn’t working, we can and will change.”
   The president noted the raising of an American flag over an embassy in Cuba is more than just a symbolic gesture. “With this change, we will be able to substantially increase our contacts with the Cuban people, we’ll have more personnel at our embassy, and our diplomats will have the ability to engage more broadly across the island. That will include the Cuban government, civil society and ordinary Cubans who are reaching for a better life. On issues of common interest, like counter-terrorism, disaster response and development, we will find new ways to cooperate with Cuba.”
   But Obama also pointed out Cuba cannot be expected to transform its policies, often at odds with those of the U.S., “overnight.”
   “And I’ve been clear that we will also continue to have some very serious differences,” he said. “That will include the United States’ enduring support for universal values like freedom of speech and assembly, and the ability to access information, and we will not hesitate to speak out when we see actions that contradict those values. However, I strongly believe that the best way for America to support our values is through engagement.”
   President Obama has gone as far as his executive authority allows to re-establish relations with Cuba after over 50 years of sanctions and trade embargoes. Only Congress can lift the decades-old trade embargo, however, and many opponents of closer ties with Cuba will remain in the legislature until the regime changes to a more democratic one. Further, Congress still has the power to block the nomination of a U.S. ambassador to Cuba.
   In his speech, Obama pointed to broad public support for normalizing relations in both countries, urging Congress to “listen to the Cuban people, listen to the American people, listen to the words of a proud Cuban-American, Carlos Gutierrez, who recently came out against the policy of the past, saying ‘I wonder if the Cubans who have to stand in line for the most basic necessities for hours in the hot Havana sun feel that this approach is helpful to them.'”
   “After all,” he asked, “why should Washington stand in the way of our own people?”
   Although Cuba has a population of only 11 million people, companies and ports are already making preparations to take advantage of a new market just 90 miles off the coast of South Florida. So far, only a handful of American products can be sold to Cuba after Obama loosened some restrictions in December.
   Trade with Cuba is allowed under the embargo if it is for the purposes of humanitarian relief, which includes food stuffs. But agriculture and food trade with Cuba has recently declined by half to about $350 million per year because of difficulties with banking and selling on credit.
   Meanwhile, the Cuban Chamber of Commerce announced Monday it has chosen Troy, Mich., for its third location in the United States as it seeks to open trade with Michigan companies. 
   “I want Michigan companies to gain a competitive advantage over other states racing to get their company’s products and services into the Cuban market,” Chamber Executive Director David McAllister said of the announcement. “I’m from Michigan and our desire at the Cuban Chamber of Commerce is for Michigan to be the lead exporter into Cuba and through the Cuban Chamber of Commerce, we can help those Michigan companies navigate through the complex Cuban market.”
   The Cuba Chamber is planning several export trade missions to Cuba in the next several months, as well as seminars, to facilitate trade between the two nations.