London: On Tuesday, President Barack Obama announced a slew of initiatives meant to restore US diplomatic relations with Cuba. This came hours after the American aid subcontractor Alan Gross was returned to the US after being held in Cuba for five years. From lifting the amount of alcohol and tobacco travellers can bring back from Cuba to a review of whether Cuba should still be considered “a state sponsor of terrorism”, these initiatives are thought to be a major step in normalising relations between the two countries.
“We are choosing to cut loose the anchor of the past, because it is entirely necessary to reach a better future — for our national interests, for the American people, and for the Cuban people,” Obama said in the announcement. So what exactly does this mean, especially for the average American? Here’s a brief guide:
How have US-Cuba relations changed?
The US cut diplomatic ties with Cuba in January 1961. The secretary of state, John Kerry, has been tasked with initiating discussions with the country’s representatives in an effort to re-establish these ties. He is also set to review Cuba’s designation as a “state sponsor of terrorism”, a status the US has given it since 1982.
Obama said the initial step is to send a US delegation, led by the assistant secretary of state for western hemisphere affairs, Roberta Jacobson, to the next round of talks between the two countries. These discussions are scheduled for January in Havana.
The biggest development will be the re-establishing of a US embassy in Havana. The former embassy building is currently occupied by the US Interests Section, which provides a US government presence in Cuba.
Key dates
1959: Fidel Castro and his guerrilla army defeat the US-backed Cuban regime of Fulgencio Batista
1960-1961: Cuba nationalises US businesses without compensation; US breaks off diplomatic relations and imposes a trade embargo in response
1961: Failed Bay of Pigs invasion by CIA-backed Cuban exiles
1962: Soviet Union deploys ballistic missiles to Cuba, prompting Cuban Missile Crisis
2001: Five Cubans, dubbed the Cuban Five, are jailed in Miami for spying
2008: Raul Castro becomes Cuban president
2009: US citizen Alan Gross detained in Cuba accused of spying
2013: US President Barack Obama and Raul Castro shake hands at Nelson Mandela’s funeral — the first such public gesture since 1959
December 2014: Alan Gross is released by Cuba
638 ways to kill Fidel
For nearly half a century, the CIA and Cuban exiles have been trying to devise ways to assassinate Fidel Castro. None of the plots succeeded, of course, but, then, many of them were probably be rejected as too fanciful even for a James Bond novel.
While the exploding cigar that was intended to blow up in Castro’s face is perhaps the best-known of the attempts on his life, others have been equally bizarre.
Knowing his fascination for scuba-diving off the coast of Cuba, the CIA at one time invested in a large volume of Caribbean molluscs. The idea was to find a shell big enough to contain a lethal quantity of explosives, which would then be painted in colours lurid and bright enough to attract Castro’s attention when he was underwater. Another aborted plot related to Castro’s underwater activities was for a diving-suit to be prepared for him that would be infected with a fungus that would cause a chronic and debilitating skin disease.
In November 1963, an agent was given a pen-syringe in Paris was sent to kill Castro, but failed.
On one occasion, a former lover was recruited to kill him. The woman was given poison pills by the CIA, and she hid them in her cold cream jar. But the pills melted and she decided that, all things considered, putting cold cream in Castro’s mouth while he slept was a bad idea. According to the woman, Castro had already guessed that she was aiming to kill him and he duly offered her his own pistol. “I can’t do it, Fidel,” she told him.
The most recent serious assassination attempt that we know of came in 2000 when Castro was due to visit Panama. A plot was hatched to put 90kg of high explosives under the podium where he was due to speak. That time, Castro’s personal security team carried out their own checks on the scene, and helped to abort the plot.
One of Castro’s old classmates planned to shoot him dead in the street in broad daylight much in the manner of a mafia hit. One would-be sniper at the University of Havana was caught by security men. But the shooters were no more successful than the poisoners and bombers.
Can Americans go to Cuba?
Not as tourists. Travel rights are being expanded for the 12 categories of people who could already travel to Cuba with either a general or specific license. Now, people visiting family or travelling for school, journalism, research, humanitarian projects and other reasons covered under those categories only need to acquire a general license, which does not require permission or advance notification to US officials.
However, if you want to go just to be a tourist, the previous restrictions remain in place. That means getting to get to Cuba the same way people have for the past few decades — through another country. Of course, that’s illegal.
The other good news for people who do go is that US banks will now be authorised to set up corresponding accounts at Cuban financial institutions, which will allow travellers to use US credit and debit cards in the country.
What can travellers bring back?
US travellers who acquire one of the two licenses required for travel can now import $400 (About Dh1,469) worth of goods from Cuba — no more than $100 of which can be alcohol and tobacco products combined. Previously, no goods of Cuban origin could be brought into the US. If you go without one of the licenses, you cannot bring back anything.
What does this mean for American businesses?
Certain industries such as technology and construction could benefit from authorised changes to US exports. American firms will be able to export materials for building private residences and agricultural equipment for “small farmers”. Goods intended for use by “Cuban entrepreneurs” in the private sector can also be exported, though the initial announcement does not specify the limits.
In an effort to improve the highly limited internet access in Cuba, the US is also authorising the export of certain telecommunication items such as software, applications and hardware. Providers will also be allowed to establish the infrastructure necessary for these systems to operate.
In terms of bigger changes, don’t expect American chains to start flocking to the island anytime soon. That’s because the embargo is still in place, and Obama can’t end it on his own.
Do these changes mean the embargo is lifted?
Not just yet. The embargo, which began in October 1960, cannot be lifted without congressional approval. However, these extensive changes will ease the impact of the embargo. For many years, presidents had the power to lift the embargo unilaterally, but Congress codified it in the 1990s with the Helms-Burton Act.
