"End of the Cold War"

How the US reconciliation with Cuba was prepared: Newsweek

On December 17, Cuba and the United States announced the normalization of bilateral relations and the resumption of diplomatic ties, putting an end to the Cold War, in which the countries were more than 50 years. Preparations for the historical announcement were fed for a year and a half, while diplomats on both sides were now and then faced with numerous difficulties. As a result, the reconciliation took place - through the mediation of the Catholic Church and the participation of relatives of Alan Gross, the USAID worker, arrested in Cuba in 2009.

About how the thaw was prepared in the American-Cuban relations, NEWSWeek writes in detail. The first steps in this direction of the United States began to take almost immediately after the election of Barack Obama. Already in 2009, the president lifted a number of restrictions, allowing the Americans to go to Cuba to the Americans and simplifying the process of transferring money to relatives. Then, American telecommunication companies were able to first establish contact with Cuba via satellite and wholesale cables.

In the same year, Alan Gross was arrested in Cuba, an employee of the US agency for international development, who was accused of espionage and delivery to the island of illegal telecommunication equipment. In 2011, Gross was sentenced to 15 years in prison. The American’s sentence under the espionage article put a cross on the hopes of the Obama administration to converge with Cuba, but in the end, it was the history of Gross that made the normalization of bilateral relations possible. Since 2011, Gross relatives have sought to be exchanged for three Cuban spies who served in the USA. Officially, the State Department could not go for such an exchange: Alan Gross was not an employee of the American special services. However, unofficially, negotiations on the release of the USAID employee still began.

In 2013, Gross's health worsened, he wrote from prison to his wife that he was thinking about suicide. The history of Gross was picked up by the American media, after them his figure was interested in the American Catholic Church, which has historically close ties with Cuba, where almost 60% of the population profess Catholicism. With the mediation of American cardinals, in April 2014, bilateral negotiations in Toronto began, and in the fall, the US and Cuban representatives met in the Vatican with Pope Francis. At this meeting, the parties agreed on the liberation of Alan Gross, as well as on further steps to normalize relations.

On Wednesday, the exhausted Gross was taken to the Andrews air base in Washington. Together with him was his wife Judy and legislators, contributing to his liberation. And only a few hours later, Barack Obama made a historical announcement about a breakthrough in relations with Cuba (Agnl. Yaz.).

Newsweek