Cuba Strengthens Ties with the United States

Published in La Prensa
(Honduras) on 8 January 2015
by Wilmer Perez (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Stephen Routledge. Edited by Nicholas Eckart.

OPD 1/8

Edited by Nicholas Eckart

The diplomatic rapprochement between Cuba and the United States has occurred 56 years after the breakdown of relations between the two nations, after pressure from Pope Francis and other international requests, including the intervention of the Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who is rightly concerned about the huge amount of natural gas that is being sent each month to the Caribbean island and which the Russians need to sustain their economy.

Russia maintains a dangerous confrontation in the Crimea region, which possesses the bulk of Russia’s troops, and, most importantly, the natural gas it needs.

Russia is not greatly interested in the future of Cuba, a country that is concerned about the turn its economy has taken. For this reason, Raul Castro, substitute for his brother Fidel who was in power, has changed his political and economic position in the last two years in order to provide a timid diplomatic opening to his citizens abroad, mainly in the United States. He has also opened Cuba’s borders to the import of products of the modern globalized world in which we live, which was previously forbidden.

The world is changing, and relations between nations are suffering a phenomenal change in which everyone has to do what they can to adapt to the new order.

Therefore, the Cuban regime has contributed to an approach with the Yankees — situated so close and yet so far — while Barack Obama, the U.S. president, has seen this as an attractive opportunity to do business with Cuba and to strengthen links, peace and harmony. Moreover, in this way, Vladimir Putin is getting out of his commitment to Fidel Castro by leaving the Cubans to see how they manage to survive on their own. History does not stop, but changes as time passes.


El acercamiento diplomático entre Cuba y Estados Unidos se produce 56 años después del rompimiento de relaciones entre las dos naciones, luego de presiones del papa Francisco y otras instancias internacionales; entre ellas la intervención del propio primer ministro ruso, Vladimir Putin, quien está justamente inquieto por la enorme cantidad de toneladas de gas natural que envía mensualmente a la isla caribeña y que los rusos necesitan para sostener su economía.

Rusia mantiene una peligrosa confrontación en la región de Crimea, donde está el grueso de sus tropas y, lo más importante, posee el gas natural que necesita.

A Rusia poco le interesa ahora el futuro de Cuba, país que está preocupado por el giro que ha tomado su economía. Por ese motivo, Raúl Castro, sustituto de su hermano Fidel en el poder, ha cambiado su posición política y económica desde hace dos años para ofrecer una tímida apertura diplomática a sus ciudadanos en el exterior, principalmente en Estados Unidos. También ha abierto sus fronteras a la importación de modernos productos del mundo globalizado en que vivimos, algo que estaba vedado.

El mundo está cambiando y las relaciones entre naciones sufren un vuelco fenomenal, en que cada uno tiene que ver qué hace para adaptarse al nuevo orden. Por eso, el régimen cubano ha propiciado una aproximación con los gringos -situados tan cerca y tan lejos- en tanto, Barak Obama, presidente estadounidense, ha visto esta como una atractiva oportunidad para hacer negocios con Cuba y estrechar sus vínculos, la paz y concordia. Además, de esta forma, Vladimir Putin se libra de su compromiso con Fidel Castro al dejar que los cubanos vean cómo se las arreglan solos para subsistir. La historia no se atasca, sino que va cambiando conforme pasa el tiempo.
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