US and Cuba Restore Diplomatic Relations: 53-Year Freeze Ends
Fifty-three years. That's how long the phones stayed silent between Washington and Havana — longer than most Cold War hatreds lasted. When Obama and Raúl Castro announced the thaw in December 2014, they freed Alan Gross, swapped spies, and opened embassies that would've been unthinkable a year earlier. Cuba released 53 political prisoners. The U.S. eased travel bans. Miami's Little Havana erupted — half celebrating, half furious. But the real shift wasn't diplomatic. It was generational. The exiles who fled Castro in '59 were dying off, and their children wanted to visit Havana before it changed completely.
December 17, 2014
12 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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