One year later in U.S.-Cuba relations
HAVANA,.Dec. 15th President Obama and Cuban PresidentRaúl Castro shocked the world one year ago Thursday when they announced the United States and Cuba would end more than a half century of enmity and start normalizing relations.
That date, Dec. 17, has now become etched into the minds of Cubans as a turning point in their history.
Much has changed in the past year. Americans can get to the island easier, and they’re taking advantage of it by flooding Havana in record numbers. More Cubans are also traveling to the U.S. to attend conferences and meet with potential business partners. Communications on the island are better, and there are signs that business is on the verge of exploding.
“We’re breathing a different air in Cuba,” said Hiram Centelles, a Cuban technology entrepreneur who in 2007 created Revolico, a Craigslist-style classifieds website that has flourished despite the government’s tight controls over the Internet and the Cuban economy.
But much has also remained the same in Cuba, a country still controlled by the Castro family and its Communist government. As Pedro Freyre, an attorney at the Miami-based Akerman law firm put it: “Things that have been a certain way for 55 years cannot suddenly change in 12 months.”
Here’s a look at five big changes and five areas where things have stayed the same in the past year:
WHAT’S CHANGED:
1. Closer diplomatic ties
Both countries reopened embassies in Havana and Washington. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez have met several times and diplomats now conduct regular negotiations on a wide variety of issues.
2. Easier travel
The Obama administration created rules to make it easier to book flights and hotels. The Cubans have allowed San Francisco-based Airbnb to operate on the island, making it for easier for Americans to book a room.
American Dave Kraemer, 60, of Santa Cruz, Calif., and his wife Anne Kennedy, left, enjoy a vintage car ride with other American travelers leaving the historic Hotel Nacional in Havana, Cuba. (Photo: Jack Gruber, USA Today)
3. Better phone service
It used to be that Americans would shut off their cell phones after landing in Cuba. Now, Sprint and Verizon have established roaming agreements with Cuba’s telecommunications company. Direct long-distance telephone service also was established by New Jersey-based IDT Corporation.
Cell phones didn’t become legal for all Cubans until 2008. Now, even some Americans can use their phones on the island through new roaming agreements finalized in 2015. (Photo: AP)
4. Debit cards welcome
Cuba used to be a cash-only trip for Americans. But the first U.S.-issued debit card is now approved for use, a MasterCard issued by Florida-based Stonegate Bank.
Cuba was a cash-only trip for Americans until a Florida bank teamed up with MasterCard to offer the first U.S.-issued debit card that can be used on the island. (Photo: AP)
5. Trade is starting
The first trade deal struck between the countries was a medical one, when New York-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute signed an agreement to bring a lung cancer vaccine to the U.S. for clinical trials. Many other American companies are now trying to strike their own deals, including PepsiCo, NAPA Auto Parts, Carnival cruise lines,American Airlines and JetBlue.
At a press conference in Havana on April 21, 2015, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, left, listens as Candace Johnson, director of the New York-based Roswell Park Cancer Institute, announces an agreement to bring a lung cancer vaccine developed in Cuba to the U.S. for clinical trials. (Photo: EPA)
1. U.S. embargo
The U.S. economic embargo against Cuba remains intact. First established at the peak of the Cold War in the early 1960s, when the Cuban Missile Crisis brought the world to the brink of a nuclear war, the embargo bars most Americans from traveling to, or trading with, the island. Only Congress can change that.
Republicans in Congress, led by House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, left, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have opposed Obama’s opening with Cuba and vowed to maintain the embargo on the island in place. (Photo: AP)
2. Cubans’ entry into the USA
The U.S. has not changed the Cuban Adjustment Act, which allows any Cuban who merely touches U.S. soil to legally stay and become a permanent resident. That continues to lure Cubans to the U.S., something the Cuban government wants to end.
Cuban rafters stare toward Key West from the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Charles Sexton on June 30, 2015, after they were caught at sea. They are part of a large wave of Cubans leaving the island for the U.S. (Photo: Alan Gomez, USA TODAY)