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 Sealed by an exchange of letters between U.S. President Barack
Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, the deal fulfills a pledge
the former Cold War enemies made six months ago. It also attempts to
end the recriminations that have predominated ever since Fidel
Castro's rebels overthrew the U.S.-backed government of Fulgencio
Batista on Jan. 1, 1959.
The letters set a date of July 20 for the re-establishment of
relations, and embassies could be opened at that time or later.
Kerry, speaking from Vienna, said he would visit Havana to raise the
U.S. flag outside the future U.S. embassy, currently labeled an
interests section.
"The progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that
we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past," Obama said from the
White House Rose Garden. "When something isn’t working, we can - and
will - change."
Obama noted that ties were severed in the year he was born, 1961.
A long battle of subterfuge and outright aggression followed as Cuba
closely aligned with the Soviet Union, nearly leading to nuclear war
in 1962 over Soviet missiles stationed on the island.
 Isolating Cuba had been a foreign policy pillar under 10 U.S.
presidents, continuing long after the fall of the Soviet Union in
1991. Washington's allies repeatedly condemned the policy, and Obama
declared it had failed to promote democracy or improve the lives of
Cubans living in a one-party state.
"It hasn’t worked for 50 years. It shuts America out of Cuba’s
future, and it only makes life worse for the Cuban people," Obama
said while noting stark differences between the two governments
would remain.
Cuba's Communist government controls the media and represses
political opponents, a policy it has justified based on U.S.
attempts to destabilize the government and Washington's open support
of dissidents.
Castro, 84, Fidel's younger brother and Cuban president since 2008,
welcomed diplomatic ties that he said should reinforce the
principles of sovereign equality and non-interference in his
country.
"Cuba is encouraged by the reciprocal intention to develop
respectful and cooperative relations between our two peoples and
governments," Castro wrote in his letter to Obama.
Obama said the agreement would increase U.S. contact with ordinary
Cubans, permit a larger staff of diplomats and grant them more
freedom of movement across the island.
Since 1977, both countries have operated with interests sections
protected by the Swiss government.
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MAJOR OBSTACLES AHEAD
With diplomatic relations restored, the United States and Cuba will
turn to more difficult bilateral problems likely to take years to
resolve.
Cuba's Communist government said in a statement that to have normal
overall relations, the United States must rescind its economic
embargo and return the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, which it has
leased since 1903, as sovereign Cuban territory.
Asked whether he could envision a day when the United States might
give up the base, U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter told a Pentagon
news conference there was "no anticipation and no plan, with respect
to the Guantanamo Bay naval station in Cuba."
Obama, a Democrat, has asked the Republican-controlled Congress to
lift the 53-year-old embargo, but the conservative leadership in
Congress has resisted.
A Cuban government statement said the United States also needed to
halt radio and television broadcasts beamed into the country and
stop "subversive" programs that the United States says are intended
to promote democracy.
While critics including Republican presidential candidates have
accused Obama of capitulation, the Cuba deal marks a major
achievement for him. Obama has been criticized for foreign policy
stumbles, especially in the Middle East.
Public opinion polls show majority support for engaging with Cuba,
even among Cuban-Americans who had historically been firm supporters
of the embargo.
Following 18 months of secret negotiations brokered by Pope Francis
and Canada, Obama and Castro announced in December they planned to
reopen embassies and normalize relations. The agreement also
included a prisoner swap.
(Reporting by Daniel Trotta in Havana and Jeff Mason, Roberta
Ramptonm Matt Spetalnick and Lesley Wroughton in Washington; Editing
by Doina Chiacu and Lisa Von Ahn)
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