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Cuban thaw

The Cuban thaw
U.S. President Obama meets with Cuban leader Raúl Castro in Panama.
DateJuly 20, 2015 (2015-07-20) – June 16, 2017 (2017-06-16)
Also known asNormalization of relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States
Patron(s)Pope Francis
Organized byPresident of the United States Barack Obama,
President of the State Council of Cuba and First Secretary of the Communist Party Raúl Castro,
Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper,
Pope Francis, Holy See
Participants Canada
 Cuba
 Holy See
 United States
OutcomeBrief restoration of diplomatic relations between the two governments
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The Cuban thaw[1][2] (Spanish: deshielo cubano,[3][4] pronounced [desˈʝelo kuˈβano]) was the normalization of Cuba–United States relations that began in December 2014 ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. In March 2016, Barack Obama became the first U.S. president to visit Cuba since Calvin Coolidge in 1928.[5] The normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba was relatively short lived, with much of the diplomatic progress that was made later being undone by the Trump administration.

On December 17, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raúl Castro announced the beginning of the process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the United States. The normalization agreement was secretly negotiated in preceding months, facilitated by Pope Francis and largely hosted by the Government of Canada. Meetings were held in both Canada and Vatican City.[6] The agreement would see the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, fewer restrictions on remittances, U.S. banks' access to the Cuban financial system,[7] and the reopening of the U.S. embassy in Havana and the Cuban embassy in Washington, which both closed in 1961 after the breakup of diplomatic relations as a result of Cuba's close alliance with the USSR.[8][9]

On April 14, 2015, the Obama administration announced that Cuba would be removed from the United States State Sponsors of Terrorism list. With no congressional action to block this within the permitted time period, Cuba was officially removed from the list on May 29, 2015. This marked a further departure by the United States from the Cold War conflict and its strain on Cuba–United States relations.[10] On July 20, 2015, the Cuban and U.S. "interests sections" in Washington and Havana were upgraded to embassies.[11]

On June 16, 2017, President Donald Trump stated that he was "canceling" the Obama administration's deals with Cuba, while also expressing that a new deal could be negotiated between the Cuban and United States governments.[12][13] On November 8, 2017, it was announced that some travel restrictions which were loosened by the Obama administration would resume, and that fresh restrictions would be imposed on "direct financial transactions" with certain businesses belonging to the Cuban armed forces and interior ministries[14] and would go into effect on November 9.[15] Further changes were made in 2019, but many of the changes made in 2015 remain in effect.[which?]

In 2022, the Biden administration announced new changes that reversed Trump's measures toward Cuba, such as the elimination of the limit on family remittances and the expansion of staff at the Havana embassy to process visas.[16][17]

  1. ^ "Betting on a Cuban Thaw: Stocks Soar on Rumors of U.S. Relations With Cuba". Newsweek. Reuters. December 17, 2014.
  2. ^ Parker, K. Quincy (January 8, 2015). "CARICOM Launches Five-Year Plan". The Nassau Guardian. Archived from the original on August 8, 2017. Retrieved January 11, 2015. The rapprochement of which Christie spoke has been referred to as 'The Cuban Thaw'.
  3. ^ "Se inicia la Cumbre con la mira puesta en el 'deshielo' cubano-estadounidense". Télam (in Spanish). April 10, 2016. Retrieved April 17, 2016.
  4. ^ Reyes Uschinsky, Carla (January 28, 2016). "Dos mujeres diplomáticas dirigen las negociaciones en el deshielo cubano". Mundario (in Spanish). Retrieved April 17, 2015.
  5. ^ "Obama begins historic visit to Cuba". Washington Post. March 20, 2016.
  6. ^ Nadeau, Barbie Latza (December 17, 2014). "The Pope's Diplomatic Miracle: Ending the U.S.–Cuba Cold War". The Daily Beast. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  7. ^ Tannebaum, Daniel & Stokes, Amber (December 18, 2014). "Key Points from the President's Announcement on Cuba Sanctions" (PDF). First Take. PwC Financial Services Regulatory Practice.
  8. ^ Keane, Angela Greiling & Dorning, Mike (December 17, 2014). "Cuba's Half Century of Isolation to End". Bloomberg News. Archived from the original on December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 21, 2014.
  9. ^ Baker, Peter (December 18, 2014). "Obama Announces U.S. and Cuba Will Resume Relations". The New York Times. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  10. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT0415 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  11. ^ "US and Cuba restore ties by opening embassies". Al Jazeera. July 20, 2015. Retrieved July 20, 2015.
  12. ^ Dan Merica and Jim Acosta (June 15, 2017). "Trump chips away at Obama's legacy on Cuba". CNN. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  13. ^ "Live stream: Trump announces policy changes on Cuba". USA Today. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
  14. ^ Lederman, Josh (November 8, 2017). "U.S. tightens travel rules to Cuba, blacklists many businesses". Chicago Tribune.
  15. ^ "Essential Washington". Los Angeles Times. April 14, 2018.
  16. ^ "Biden Administration Expands Support to the Cuban People". U.S. Department of State.
  17. ^ Sanger, David E. (May 16, 2022). "Biden Administration Lifting Some Trump-Era Restrictions on Cuba". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved May 21, 2022.