As a nation, we are headed toward one of the
signature weekends of the summer, if not the year. Saturday will be the Fourth of July, or, as
it’s officially known in the U.S., Independence Day. It’s
a federal holiday commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, when the country
declared independence from Great Britain.
Independence Day is commonly
a time for fireworks, parades, barbecues, carnivals, fairs, picnics, concerts, baseball games, family reunions, and political speeches and
ceremonies, in addition there are a number of other public and private events
celebrating the history, government, and traditions of the United States.
This year we will add a little extra spice to
the celebratory fireworks. In a reversal
of 55 years of varying degrees of less than neighborly hostilities, more than
54 of those years without diplomatic relations, the United States and Cuba plan
to announce an agreement today to officially seal the renewal of diplomatic ties.
The two countries will reopen embassies in Washington and Havana for the
first time since January 3, 1961, the climax of deteriorating relations between
the United States and Fidel Castro’s government in Cuba.
President Dwight D.
Eisenhower closed the American Embassy in Havana and severed all diplomatic
connections. This action signaled the
willingness of the U.S. to take extreme measures to oppose the Castro Regime,
which officials in this country believed was transforming into a beachhead of
communism in the Western Hemisphere. The
stated reason for the dissolution of relations was, ostensibly, Castro’s demand
that the U.S. reduce its embassy staff, based upon his assertion that the staff
was being used as a base for spying.
With that action, the Cold War became an active intra-continental
political sport in the Western Hemisphere.
Back on Wednesday,
December 17, 2014, President Obama ordered the restoration of full
diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana. He vowed to “cut loose the shackles of the
past” and sweep aside one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.
The announcement, a
surprise at the time, followed the end of 18 months of secret talks that
produced a prisoner swap negotiated with the help of Pope Francis, and concluded by a telephone call
between Presidents Obama and Raúl Castro.
The unexpected and historic deal broke a prolonged stalemate between two
countries separated by just 90 miles of water, but oceans of mistrust and
hostility that go back to the days of Theodore Roosevelt’s charge up San Juan Hill, and the nuclear brinksmanship of the Cuban missile crisis.
In revealing the deal
to the American public, President Obama said:
“We
will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our
interests, and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two
countries. The deal will begin a new
chapter among the nations of the Americas and move beyond a rigid policy that
is rooted in events that took place before most of us were born.”
In taking this avant-garde
step in diplomacy, President Obama proved once again, as he had with healthcare
reform that he dared tread where those who came before him opted to sidestep. Ten Presidents that preceded Mr. Obama had
refused to go there. In fact Republicans,
along with at least one senior Democrat, characterized the action as
appeasement of the hemisphere’s leading dictatorship. Republicans, who were slated to control both
houses of Congress, beginning in January, promised to resist lifting the
54-year-old trade embargo.
Senator Marco Rubio, a
Republican from Florida and son of Cuban immigrants, said:
“All
this is going to do is give the Castro Regime, which controls every aspect of
Cuban life, the opportunity to manipulate these changes to perpetuate itself in
power.”
There are still
hurdles to overcome. For the moment,
there remains a Cuba travel ban in place on U.S. citizens, and Cuba is still
subject to a U.S. arms embargo, in place since 1962, though President Obama has
urged Congress to lift it.
Despite the hardcore
GOP bravado, the wheels of change roll on.
The two countries have operated diplomatic missions called “interest
sections” in each other’s capitals since 1977 under the legal protection of
Switzerland. However, they do not enjoy
the same status as full embassies. It
appears that will change in a matter of weeks.
This past April,
President Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, met for the first
formal talks between the two countries in more than half a century. In May, the U.S. moved Cuba from its list of
state sponsors of terrorism. The nations
also announced plans to resume ferry and air service between the U.S. and Cuba.
The President has long
viewed ending the U.S. freeze with Cuba as central to his foreign policy legacy.
It has taken the country more than five decades, and it has taken this
President more than six years, but today is the day the U.S. announces a reset
for Cuban relations. A White House
spokesman said President Obama would deliver a statement on Cuba this morning
from the Rose Garden. Secretary of State
Kerry is expected to speak from Vienna, about embassy openings, which are
anticipated to occur in July.
The Secretary would
likely travel to Cuba for an embassy opening.
In Havana, the American Embassy will likely occupy the same building
where the “interest section” currently operates. That is the same structure, situated on the
Havana waterfront, which housed the American Embassy prior to the severing of
diplomatic ties after the Cuban Revolution.
Much has changed, yet some things do remain the same.
As you prepare to
observe the upcoming Independence Day holiday, whether it be by eating too
much, drinking too liberally, engaging friends and family at home, or taking on
a travel expedition, under the shade of Old Glory, or in the surreal backdrop
of the Southern Cross (Rebel Flag), feel free to kick it off, beginning today,
as the amity of the Americas gets a little more genuine, because of…”Rapprochement: The United
States and Cuba Resume Diplomatic Relations!”
I’m done; holla
back!
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