Oh boy.

U.S. seeks to normalize relations with Cuba

David Jackson and Alan Gomez, USA TODAY 10:32 a.m. EST December 17, 2014
U.S. contractor Alan Gross poses for a photo during a visit by Rabbi Elie Abadie and Berenthal at Finlay military hospital in Havana, Cuba, in 2012.Gross was arrested in December 2009 and charged with undermining Cuba's government by bringing communications equipment onto the island illegally. (Photo: James L. Berenthal via AP)



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Cuba has released an American prisoner it held for five years as part of an agreement to open talks about normalizing relations the United States and its long-time communist foe, Obama administration officials said Wednesday.
The biggest shift in U.S-Cuban relationship since relations were severed in 1961 includes more trade between the nations, as well as a general easing of the U.S. embargo against Cuba and the prospect of a U.S. embassy in Havana, officials said.
President Obama, who has indicated a desire for improved relations, plans to address the topic shorty after noon on Wednesday, officials said.
In addition, Cuban television announced that President Raul Castro -- brother of communist revolutionary leader Fidel Castro -- will speak at noon and make "an important announcement on US-Cuba relations."
Alan Gross, arrested in 2009 on espionage charges for trying to provide Internet service to Cuban citizens, worked as a subcontractor for the U.S. Agency for International Development. Gross' release is also part of an agreement that includes the release of three Cubans accused of spying and imprisoned in the United States, officials said.

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"This morning, Alan Gross has departed Cuba on a US government plane bound for the United States," an administration official said in a statement. "Mr. Gross was released on humanitarian grounds by the Cuban government at the request of the United States."
Officials spoke on condition of anonymity, pending the formal announcement by the president.
News of the announcement drew criticism from anti-Castro Republicans, and some Democrats.
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J., a Democrat and the outgoing chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said "President Obama's actions have vindicated the brutal behavior of the Cuban government."
Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Florida, a Republican and a long-time critic of Cuba's government, said the U.S. and Cuba are talking about new trade and banking ties, and the prospect of a U.S. embassy in Havana.
Rubio, a possible GOP presidential candidate in 2016, and other Republicans said the Obama administration should demand democratic reform in Cuba before making any concessions.
"I don't think we should be negotiating with a repressive regime to make changes in our relationship" until Cuba changes, said Jeb Bush, a former governor of Florida and another prospective Republican presidential candidate.
Gross' imprisonment has been an obstacle to talks about improving U.S.-Cuban relations, including the possibility of easing or even ending the American economic embargo against Cuba.
The administration has frequently called for Gross' release, most recently after his fifth year in prison passed earlier this month.
"Alan Gross was arrested for his efforts to help ordinary Cuban citizens have greater access to information through the Internet," White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a Dec. 3 statement. "The administration remains focused on securing Alan's freedom from a Cuban prison, and returning him safely to his wife and children, where he belongs."
Citing concerns for Gross' health, Earnest said: "We remain deeply concerned for Alan's health, and reiterate our call for his release — the Cuban government's release of Alan on humanitarian grounds would remove an impediment to more constructive relations between the United States and Cuba."
Cuba arrested Gross for trying to set up an Internet access system while working as a subcontractor with the U.S. Agency for International Development. The communist state, which regards USAID programs as attempts to undermine its government, sentenced Gross to 15 years in prison.
Anthony Blinken, the newly confirmed deputy secretary of state, told senators during his confirmation hearings that the Obama administration is interested in better relations with Cuba, but only after it released Gross.
When Rubio asked about "chatter" that Obama planned to act unilaterally to change actions with Cuba, Blinken said: "The president has views on how to try to move, help move Cuba in a democratic direction, to help support people moving in that direction, and, you know, if he has an opportunity I'm sure that's something he would want to pursue. But it depends on Cuba and the actions that they take."