Is the US-Cuban cold war coming to an end?

With President Obama saying it is time to “cut loose the shackles of the past”, the US is planning to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba by opening an embassy in the country, as well as easing travel restrictions that prevent Americans from visiting the Caribbean island.

The major shift in policy, following years of animosity between the capitalist US and communist Cuba, follows the release of American aid worker Alan Gross after five years in a Cuban prison – and was described by President Obama as “the most significant changes in US policy towards Cuba in 50 years”.

Pres Obama in telephone yesterday w Pres Castro of Cuba pic.twitter.com/GDCJ0g9zzH

— petesouza (@petesouza) December 17, 2014

The US Congress will also be consulted about lifting the trade embargo the US has maintained on Cuba for the past 50 years.

Mr Gross’ release is part of a prisoner exchange that will also see three Cuban intelligence agents freed. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2009 for importing banned technology and trying to establish a clandestine internet service for Cuban Jews.

Alan and Judy Gross. Together again. Just before leaving Cuba this morning. #alangross pic.twitter.com/cdIlIkYfF3

— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) December 17, 2014

The release of the three Cuban intelligence agents, after 16 years in prison, will be hailed in Cuba as a victory for President Raul Castro, brother of Fidel, who handed over power in 2008.

‘Inexplicable’

But the news has antagonised some hardliners in Washington, as well as Cuban exiles in Miami. Senator Marco Rubio, a prominent Republican from Florida, described it as “inexplicable”, adding that he would try to block the plan.

The US wants to promote democracy in Cuba, a one-party political system where opponents of the regime are repressed and the state controls the media.

The US and Cuba have endured tense relations for decades. During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when many people feared a nuclear war, President John Kennedy (picture above) succeeded in preventing Russia from stationing nuclear missiles on the island, 90 miles from Florida.

The year before, the CIA had launched the Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba, using 1,400 Cuban exiles trained in Miami.

The attempt to overthrow Fidel Castro (pictured below), who had ousted the pro-American Fulgencio Batista, failed, with 114 invaders killed and more than 1,100 taken prisoner.