In the News
- Obama: U.S. and Cuba: “New chapter”
- Spies swapped for spies
- Pols’ reax: Swift and strong
- Biz groups support WH move
- U.S. concludes North Korea hacked Sony
- Sony Pictures cancels release of “The Interview”
- Theater owners scramble
- Putin: Russian economy will recover
- IRS cuts on the way
- SCOTUS: Young AZ immigrants can drive
- Fed will be “patient” on interest rate timing
Obama: U.S. and Cuba “New Chapter”
• The U.S. will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century after the release of American contractor Alan Gross, who was held in prison for five years, President Obama announced on Wednesday (NYT, Politico, TRNS, AP, TRNS, Hill, Reuters, WaPo, CNN, me)
• In a deal negotiated during 18 months of secret talks hosted largely by Canada and encouraged by Pope Francis, who hosted a final meeting at the Vatican, Obama and President Raul Castro of Cuba agreed in a 45-minute telephone call Tuesday to put aside decades of hostility – the first direct contact between the leaders of the two countries in more than 50 yrs
• “We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” Obama said in a nationally televised statement from the WH. He vowed to “cut loose the shackles of the past.”
• Obama has long expressed hope of transforming relations with the island nation, an aspiration that remained untenable as long as Cuba held Gross, the American govt contractor arrested in 2009 and sentenced to 15 years in a Cuban prison
• In a statement, Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) said that as incoming chair of a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, he will “make every effort to block this dangerous and desperate attempt by the president to burnish his legacy at the Cuban people’s expense.”
Spies Swapped for Spies
• Gross traveled back to the U.S. Wednesday morning and the U.S. sent back three Cuban spies who had been in an American prison since 2001. Rolando Sarraf Trujillo, a Cuban nation who worked as a U.S. intelligence agent, returned to American soil on Wednesday as well
• American officials said the Cuban spies were swapped for a U.S. intelligence agent who had been in a Cuban prison for nearly 20 years, and said Gross was not technically part of the swap, but was released separately on “humanitarian grounds.” (note – this is not how the story’s being widely reported. It’s reported that Gross was swapped for the three)
• In addition, the U.S. will ease restrictions on remittances, travel and banking relations and Cuba will release 53 Cuban prisoners identified as political prisoners by the U.S. govt. Although the American embargo on Cuba will remain in place for now, Obama called for an “honest and serious debate about lifting it,” which would require an act of Congress (good luck)
• At a presser in Washington, Gross said he supports Obama’s move toward normalizing relations with Cuba. “Five and a half decades of history show us that such belligerence inhibits better judgment. Two wrongs never make a right. This is a game-changer, which I fully support.”
• While eating a corned beef sandwich on rye bread with mustard during the flight home, Gross received a call from Obama. He’s back where he belongs, in America with his family, home for Hanukkah,” Obama said later
• In Miami, there was astonishment over the seismic news, but agreement ended there. For some older Cuban-American traditionalists, astonishment quickly turned to acrimony. But younger Cubans and those who have come to the U.S. more recently welcomed the decision, calling it past due
• Gross’s health has been failing. He reportedly lost more than 100 pounds in prison and is losing vision in his right eye. He went on a nine-day hunger strike in April. After turning 65 in May, he told relatives that he might try to kill himself if not released soon
• Three members of Congress were on the plane that picked up Gross in Cuba and brought him back to the U.S.: Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Sen Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rep Chris Van Hollen (D-MD)
• Gross was in Cuba to deliver satellite telephone equipment that was capable of cloaking connections to the internet when he was arrested in 2009. The Cuban authorities initially said he was a spy, and a court convicted him of bringing in the devices without a permit as part of a subversive plot to “destroy the revolution.”
• The three Cuban agents were part of the Red Avispa, or the Wasp Network, in Florida along with two other Cuban agents. One of the three, Gerardo Hernandez, was convicted in 2001 of conspiracy to commit murder in connection with the shoot-down of two Brothers to the Rescue planes over Cuba in 1996
• Diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba were severed in January 1961 after the rise of Fidel Castro and his Communist govt. Obama has instructed SecState John Kerry to immediately initiate discussions with Cuba about re-establishing diplomatic relations and to begin the process of removing Cuba from the list of states that sponsor terrorism
Pols’ Reax: Swift and Strong
• Sen Marco Rubio (R-FL) – who is of Cuban descent – on Wednesday called President Obama’s foreign policy “naive” and said, “At a minimum, Barack Obama is the worst negotiator that we’ve had as president since at least Jimmy Carter, and maybe in the modern history of the country.” (Hill, TRNS, me)
• Former FL Gov Jeb Bush (R), a likely 2016er, said Wednesday, “I don’t think we should be negotiating with a repressive regime to make changes in our relationship
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