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U.S., Cuba to restore ties after 50 years of hostility
Reuters ^ | Dec 17, 2014 | Daniel Trotta

Posted on 12/17/2014 11:08:44 AM PST by Bettyprob

(Reuters) - The United States will restore diplomatic relations it severed with Cuba more than 50 years ago, a major policy shift ending decades of hostile ties with the communist-ruled island, President Barack Obama said on Wednesday.

Announcing the end of what he called a "rigid" policy of isolation of Cuba that had been ineffective, Obama said the United States would move toward normal ties and would open an embassy in Cuba.

Obama discussed the changes with Cuban President Raul Castro on Tuesday in a nearly hour-long telephone call. Castro spoke in Cuba as Obama made his announcement on a policy shift made possible by the release of American Alan Gross, 65, who had been imprisoned in Cuba for five years.

Cuba is also releasing an intelligence agent who spied for the United States and was held for nearly 20 years, and the United States in return freed three Cuban intelligence agents held in the United States.

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS: cuba; cubarelations; johnkerry; kerry; obama
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1 posted on 12/17/2014 11:08:44 AM PST by Bettyprob
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To: Bettyprob

do we still have a Congress or what...


2 posted on 12/17/2014 11:09:16 AM PST by GeronL (Vote for Conservatives not for Republicans)
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To: Bettyprob

Comrade dictator Obama never met a commie he didn’t like.


3 posted on 12/17/2014 11:10:33 AM PST by Jim Robinson (Resistance to tyrants is obedience to God!!)
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To: Bettyprob

How come Rush is not talking about this?


4 posted on 12/17/2014 11:11:05 AM PST by Signalman
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To: Bettyprob

We have diplomatic relations with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. They are all at least as bad as Cuba.


5 posted on 12/17/2014 11:13:52 AM PST by FewsOrange
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To: Bettyprob
If hussein is for it, I'm against it. Evil must always be opposed.


6 posted on 12/17/2014 11:14:25 AM PST by re_nortex (DP - that's what I like about Texas)
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To: Jim Robinson

He’s going all out now he’s near his end to destroy this country and our laws.

This is only the beginning and he needs to be marched out of our white house and impeached.


7 posted on 12/17/2014 11:15:02 AM PST by manc (Marriage =1 man + 1 woman,when they say marriage equality then they should support polygamy)
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To: FewsOrange
We have diplomatic relations with China, Russia and Saudi Arabia. They are all at least as bad as Cuba.

Cuba is merely 90 miles away, thus making that barbaric country an existential threat.

8 posted on 12/17/2014 11:15:58 AM PST by re_nortex (DP - that's what I like about Texas)
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To: Signalman
How come Rush is not talking about this?

Because it is largely just a distraction from more ominous things Obama is doing. Sanctions against Cuba have not really achieved anything. Certainly not the removal of the Castros. The greatest effect is likely to be to make the electoral sledding in Florida a little rougher for Democrats.


9 posted on 12/17/2014 11:20:04 AM PST by Buckeye McFrog
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To: Bettyprob

I wonder when the supplies of cigars start to flow ?

That’s what this is really all about .....

” There’s an old Indian saying: “Follow the cigar smoke, find the fat man ( politicians) there.”
Gen. John Buford - Union Army - 1863


10 posted on 12/17/2014 11:20:11 AM PST by LeoWindhorse
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To: GeronL
do we still have a Congress or what...

Of course, here's a picture...


11 posted on 12/17/2014 11:20:26 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: Bettyprob

Soon... perhaps North Korea will become our closest ally eclipsing South Korea.

Under this administration who knows?

If our allies are following along here (and they certainly are), imagine what connection to the U. S. they’ll consider in the future.

Our government needs a stadium filled dose of Prazac, to combat the multi-personality it has become.


12 posted on 12/17/2014 11:20:53 AM PST by DoughtyOne (The question is Jeb Bush. The answer is NO!)
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To: re_nortex

Even a broken clock gets the time right twice a day.

As a cigar person I am very excited. I would expect trade relations to be established with Cuban tobacco as legal as Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan tobacco is today.

Cigar manufacturers have pledged that when it is legal they will create new multi-country blends—and all cigar smokers will benefit.

In addition reputable mail order houses should incorporate Cuban cigars—assuring a reliable supply. Right now thousands of Americans are wasting their money on fakes sold in Mexico and the Caribbean.

That is—if the FDA doesn’t publish some wacky new regs (which they may do this year).

There is one other factor as well—it is not in our interest to keep Cuba close to Russia. This is an opportunity to change that situation.


13 posted on 12/17/2014 11:20:56 AM PST by cgbg (HLM--"Democracy is the theory that people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.")
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To: GeronL
I think Congress went to the "Yes man" seminar...


14 posted on 12/17/2014 11:21:41 AM PST by DannyTN
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To: Bettyprob

Capitulation!


15 posted on 12/17/2014 11:21:59 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Bettyprob

Iran is next.


16 posted on 12/17/2014 11:22:35 AM PST by dfwgator
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To: Bettyprob

SURE ... let’s open up THAT border TOO!!


17 posted on 12/17/2014 11:22:51 AM PST by SMARTY ("When you blame others, you give up your power to change." Robert Anthony)
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To: re_nortex

lol


18 posted on 12/17/2014 11:23:13 AM PST by morphing libertarian (Defund , sue, impeach. Overturn Obamacare, amnesty.)
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To: Bettyprob

Wouldn’t be shocked to find the Crony Capitalist Chamber of Commerce (CCCC?) fingerprints all over this.


19 posted on 12/17/2014 11:25:34 AM PST by Bratch
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To: cgbg
There is one other reason I see this as a smart move.

If we want to effect regime change in Cuba, we need an American embassy in Havana staffed with CIA officers. The only way we can find out definitively what is going on is to have those officers recruit agents inside the Cuban government, as the CIA does in governments all over the world. It's how we can get our tentacles into Cuba.

20 posted on 12/17/2014 11:26:34 AM PST by Publius ("Who is John Galt?" by Billthedrill and Publius now available at Amazon.)
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