In a dramatic development, the United States has decided to establish full diplomatic relations with Cuba, and open economic and travel ties, US officials said on Wednesday morning, ahead of a formal announcement by President Barack Obama.
President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro were to separately address their nations around noon Wednesday. They held an extended telephone conversation of more than 45 minutes on Tuesday in what is said to be the first substantive presidential-level discussion between the two countries since 1961.The normalisation process that has apparently been in the works for many months comes close on the heels of Cuba’s release of Alan Gross, an American contractor who had been held in prison for five years, in exchange for three Cuban spies held by the US since 1981.