US To Restore Diplomatic Relations With Cuba: Obama

US President Barack Obama has announced that the United States and Cuba will restore diplomatic relations more than 50 years after they were broken.

Press TV: Speaking from the White House on Wednesday, Obama announced the end of what he acknowledged was a "rigid" policy of isolation of Cuba which had been ineffective.
Obama said a new chapter has opened in Washington’s ties with Cuba and that he wanted to have a serious debate with Congress about the prospects of lifting a half-century trade embargo on Havana.
"I do not believe we can continue doing the same thing for over five decades and expect a different result," Obama said of the Cuban embargo. "Isolation has not worked."

The US president also announced that Washington would open an embassy in Havana and significantly increase the amount of money that can be sent from the US to Cuba.
He said Washington will facilitate and authorize transactions between the two countries, and that exports to Cuba will be easier for American businessmen.
The announcement comes amid a series of new confidence-building measures between the longtime foes, including the release of American prisoner Alan Gross and another American spy, as well as the release of three Cubans jailed in the US.

Cuba and the United States have not had diplomatic relations since 1961. They became  ideological foes soon after the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.

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