US-Cuba, the First Steps Toward a Thaw

“Obama Should End the Embargo on Cuba,” urged the influential American newspaper The New York Times in an Oct. 17* editorial.

A few weeks later, U.S. President Barack Obama and Raúl Castro Ruz, the president of the Council of State of Cuba announced the restoration of bilateral relations between the United States and Cuba.

A long article published a few days ago in Granma reported the beginning of negotiations in Havana between the delegations of the two countries: “A whole new chapter is opening,” emphasized the information wing of the Cuban Communist Party.

Two women showed the way to the large diplomatic representatives: Roberta Jacobson, the American assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs, and Josefina Vidal Ferreiro, a Cuban senior official of the Foreign Affairs Ministry: two women called upon for the beginning of the “thaw” of the last block, an expression dating from the Cold War.

In order to normalize bilateral relations between two countries divided by a narrow stretch of water but with opposing views in economics and politics, the first steps are small but bureaucratic: declare the cessation of treaties that were regulating — in the absence of an official diplomatic representative — the “bureaus of interest” run by functions of consulates under the protection of Switzerland, a country that since 1961 has represented American interests in Cuba, and since 1991 the interests of the Caribbean island in the United States. In short, it means expressing a willingness to reopen embassies in the respective countries following the principles expressed by the United Nations and by the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

The political agenda, apart from the administrative aspects, involves cooperation in varied fields, such as air space security, exchange of data regarding seismic monitoring, sea areas protection and epidemic emergencies, in particular Ebola.

Also in the communications field, what has already been decided is a plan to reactivate the correspondence by mail service, following the Cuban authorization that was already announced to allow American telecommunications companies to assess any possibility of business in the island.

Cuba requested two guarantees: that the U.S. Department of State remove Cuba from the list of countries supporting terrorism — the island was included in the list of rogue states in 1982 after timid support to Latin American rebel movements — and that the sovereignty and right to self-determination of the island should be respected.

“It’s up to the Cubans to decide their future,” Roberta Jacobson said reassuringly when visiting the 14ymedio editorial office, the direct portal of the dissident Yoani Sánchez.

In two weeks, the next diplomatic summit will take place.

Editor’s note: This editorial actually dates from Oct. 11, 2014.