An Historic Day as U.S., Cuba Announce Embassy Openings

News Staff : Jul 1, 2015
CBN News

The move restores diplomatic ties that were severed more than 50 years ago. The process to normalize relations, however, has not come without criticism.

[CBN News]—It's an historic day for the United States and Cuba. On Wednesday, the Obama administration announced the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana.

"It's a big milestone," Ted Piccone, a Cuba expert at the Brookings Institution, told The Wall Street Journal.

"This is the first thing we've seen since the Dec. 17 agreement that says, 'We're jointly agreeing to this step,'" he said.

The move restores diplomatic ties that were severed more than 50 years ago. The process to normalize relations, however, has not come without criticism.

In May, the United States made the controversial move to take Cuba off its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

"Cuba should not have been removed from the State Sponsor of Terrorism list since one of the many reasons for its inclusion are its links to repressive regimes around the world, such as Iran, Syria, and Russia," Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-FL, said in a statement.

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-FL, agreed the move was a mistake.

"President Obama and his administration continue to give the Cuban regime concession after concession in exchange for nothing thiat even remotely resembles progress towards freedom and democracy for the Cuban people, or assurances that the regime will discontinue working against America's national security interests," he said.