China welcomes normalized Cuba, USA ties: spokesperson

The decision conforms to the common interests of the two countries and their people, is conducive to the stability and development of the American continent and is responsive to the long-term aspirations of worldwide communities, Hua said.

“Though Congress still needs to remove the embargo on trade and travel to Cuba, this announcement is historic and the result of President Obama’s deeper process of updating USA policy towards Cuba for the 21st century”, Washington Office on Latin America Program Director Geoff Thale said.

President Barack Obama announced the agreement at the White House. The sign in Spanish reads, Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. Provocation.

WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States and Cuba will open embassies in their capital cities after more than 50 years of hostilities between the two countries. “Unfortunately, President Obama’s insistence on forging ahead alone, without Congressional input, is entirely the wrong approach”, Byrne, who recently returned from a trip to Cuba with other federal lawmakers, said in a statement.

Republicans of Cuban descent have been critical of Obama’s efforts.

In his Rose Garden appearance, Obama noted that many Cubans have called for increased United States engagement with their country, and said it was time to look toward the future. He’s calling it an “historic step”. He called on Cuba to admit to being out of step with the global community on human rights.

Obama lobbied Congress, controlled by the Republicans, to approve the lifting of the embargo. The Cuban people is going to benefit?

While critics including Republican presidential candidates have accused Obama of capitulation, the Cuba deal marks a major achievement for him. Ted Cruz of Texas said it was a “slap in the face” of Israel to put an embassy in Havana before Jerusalem.

“The message is democracy and human rights take a back seat to a legacy initiative – our demands for freedoms and liberty on the island will continue to be ignored and we are incentivising a police state to uphold a policy of brutality”, he said.

The US had imposed sanctions and then broke off diplomatic relations entirely with Fidel Castro’s communist regime in the early 1960s.

The USA spent decades unsuccessfully trying to overthrow Cuba’s government or isolate the island.

President Eisenhower closed the USA Embassy in Havana on January 3, 1961, cutting diplomatic ties with Cuba. While reopening our embassy in Havana is a symbolic and profound step, we must not let all the progress we’ve made stop here.

Udall said American diplomats will work to secure the extradition of US fugitives such as Charlie Hill, accused of murdering a New Mexico State Police officer in the 1970s and hijacking a plane to Havana. Officially, it is a branch of the Swiss embassy, though it is staffed by American personnel.