Opening Cuba—Negotiating History

Abstract

This chapter introduces the reader to the opening with Cuba under the Barack Obama administration. The chapter describes how this opening came about, and the political and diplomatic negotiations that led up to it. Further, the narrative places the historic opening between Presidents Obama and Fidel Castro in a broader historical bilateral context that was not devoid of communications between the two states. The chapter reinforces the notion that the rapprochement between the United States and Cuba was a deliberative process that included a variety of actors. The result of these efforts was a complex diplomatic process that launched hopes of long term diplomatic normalization between the two states.