"The U.S., which has had a tight trade embargo on Cuba since 1961, is now
set to announce a loosening of economic and travel restrictions. The
Obama administration is also looking to set up an embassy in the Cuban
capital of Havana "in the coming months," the White House says.
Alan Gross, the American contractor who has been imprisoned in Cuba since 2009, will be released to the United States by the Cuban government, the White House announced Wednesday. The so-called "humanitarian release" will coincide with an exchange of three Cubans convicted of espionage in Miami for one unnamed U.S. intelligence asset. Gross, who was arrested while in Cuba as part of a USAID telecommunications program, was convicted of espionage by a Cuban court in 2011 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gross' wife and members of Congress, including long-time advocates for his release Sens. Patrick Leahy and Jeff Flake and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, are on board his flight back to the United States.
Although
negotiations had been brewing for some time, the first face-to-face
meeting between Cuban and American officials took place in Canada in
June 2013. Many of the ensuing meetings took place in Canada, but senior
administration officials said that the Vatican played an important role
in bringing the sides together as well. When Obama visited the Vatican
in March, he and Pope Francis discussed the issue, and the Pope sent
Obama and Castro personal letters to encourage them to press forward
with negotiations.
The Vatican released a statement later Wednesday congratulating the governments of the U.S. and Cuba.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined in the criticism. "At a minimum Barack Obama is the worst negotiator we've had as president since at least Jimmy Carter, and maybe in the modern history of this country," he said on Fox News Wednesday. "The issue that I care about in Cuba is democracy," Rubio later said on CNN. "Nothing that is happening here will further that cause." The senator, and possible 2016 presidential contender, called the move a "life-line" for the Castro regime." NationalJournal
"Months of talks in Canada and at the Vatican, involving one of Obama's closest aides, culminated on Tuesday, when Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro spoke by phone for nearly an hour and gave final assent to steps that could end a half-century of enmity and reshape Western Hemisphere relations.
Alan Gross, the American contractor who has been imprisoned in Cuba since 2009, will be released to the United States by the Cuban government, the White House announced Wednesday. The so-called "humanitarian release" will coincide with an exchange of three Cubans convicted of espionage in Miami for one unnamed U.S. intelligence asset. Gross, who was arrested while in Cuba as part of a USAID telecommunications program, was convicted of espionage by a Cuban court in 2011 and sentenced to 15 years in prison. Gross' wife and members of Congress, including long-time advocates for his release Sens. Patrick Leahy and Jeff Flake and Rep. Chris Van Hollen, are on board his flight back to the United States.
The Vatican released a statement later Wednesday congratulating the governments of the U.S. and Cuba.
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., joined in the criticism. "At a minimum Barack Obama is the worst negotiator we've had as president since at least Jimmy Carter, and maybe in the modern history of this country," he said on Fox News Wednesday. "The issue that I care about in Cuba is democracy," Rubio later said on CNN. "Nothing that is happening here will further that cause." The senator, and possible 2016 presidential contender, called the move a "life-line" for the Castro regime." NationalJournal
"Months of talks in Canada and at the Vatican, involving one of Obama's closest aides, culminated on Tuesday, when Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro spoke by phone for nearly an hour and gave final assent to steps that could end a half-century of enmity and reshape Western Hemisphere relations.
"The Vatican played
a significant role," Senator Richard Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, told
Reuters. Cardinal Jaime Ortega, the Archbishop of Havana, also took
part in the diplomacy, Durbin said.
The secret talks, U.S. officials said, were coordinated
via diplomatic Interests Sections - short of full embassies - that the
two sides maintain in each others' capitals, as well as Cuba's mission
to the United Nations." Yahoo
And I saw
one of his heads as it were wounded to death;
1798
and his
deadly wound was healed:
Since
1798
and all the
world wondered after the
beast.
Today
Revelation 13:3
