The US and Cuba took a significant step toward normalizing diplomatic relations, one day after the man who had become the face of semi-covert US efforts to destabilize Cuba resigned.
“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests,” President Obama said on Tuesday, announcing a series of actions his administration is taking to sunset Washington’s five-decades old Cuba isolation strategy.
Those policies include the establishment of a US embassy in Havana, high-level exchanges between the two governments, and an allowance for American travelers to import goods, like cigars and alcohol.
A series of wider-ranging economic policy changes were also announced. President Obama said he will allow: more construction materials and agriculture equipment to be exported; and the use of US credit and debit cards on the island. He also said the US will relax restrictions on American financial institutions who seek to do business with their Cuban counterparts.
The president also announced a State Department review of Cuba’s designation as a state sponsor of terrorism.
As part of the deal, Havana released two American prisoners it had held for years – former United States Agency of International Development contractor Alan Gross who had been imprisoned since 2009, and an unnamed intelligence agent had been in jail for two decades.
In return, three of the remaining “Cuban Five,” individuals convicted of spying and imprisoned in the US, were released back to Cuba.
President Obama referred to the detention of Gross as a “major obstacle” that prevented this shift in relations from happening earlier.
Gross’ fate was very much intertwined with the fate of USAID Administrator Dr. Rajiv Shah, who resigned on Monday.
Shah took the job in 2010, shortly after Gross was arrested in Cuba on charges of illegally distributing communications equipment to members of that nation’s Jewish community. The ongoing detention of Gross dogged Shah for most of his tenure at USAID.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry applauded Shah, saying he was “impressed by his fresh thinking and his ability to come inside government and remain a change agent.”
But at a Senate subcommittee hearing in April, Shah was taken to task by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) who blasted USAID activities in Cuba and its failure to secure the release of Gross – one of the agency’s own contractors.
“I’ve seen some nice press releases, but I’ve not seen any steps to actually get him out,” Sen. Leahy told Shah.
Shah was at the helm when his agency ran a covert program to foment dissent in Cuba using a social media platform called ZunZuneo. The Associated Press revealed the program earlier this year. Sen. Leahy called the scheme a “cockamamie idea,” and said similar projects could “taint all USAID employees around the world as spies.”
The USAID program that sent Gross to Cuba on a risky mission to increase access to communications is less relevant following the dramatic shift in economic and diplomatic relations. The White House announced that certain communication devices and hardware would now be authorized for export to the Cuban people. Telecoms companies will also be allowed to establish infrastructure on the island to provide commercial telephone and internet services.
Lawmakers have offered mixed reactions to the White House’s decision. Sen. Leahy, along with Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Az.) and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), accompanied Alan Gross on his flight back to the United States. The trio hailed President Obama’s decision to open up relations with Cuba.
Others weren’t so pleased. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) called the move a “another concession to a tyranny by the Obama administration.” The outgoing Democratic chairman of the House foreign affairs committee, Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) claimed, “President Obama’s actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government.”
However, the incoming chair of that foreign relations committee, Republican Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) was less eager to criticize the new posture toward Cuba. “The new U.S. policy announced by the administration is no doubt sweeping,” he said.
“We will be closely examining the implications of these major policy changes in the next Congress.”
It was also revealed Wednesday that the US-Cuban thaw came after more than a year of negotiations that were facilitated by Pope Francis and the Canadian government.
UPDATE, 4:38 p.m.: At its daily press briefing, the State Department denied that Shah’s departure had anything to do with Wednesday’s announcement.
Spokesperson Jen Psaki did note, though, that “separate from this, there has been a review of many of our programs, and there have been changes that USAID has announced.”
“However,” she added, “we continue to believe that access for civil society, that democracy programs, are positive and something we will continue to fund and support in Cuba.”
When pressed for details about what initiatives would be maintained, Psaki said she “would not get into all the specifics of that.”
