Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?

On 17 December 2014, the presidents of Cuba and the US, Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, announced simultaneously to the world the decision of an exchange of prisoners releasing the three Cuban intelligence operatives still in jail in American prisons – Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Gue...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Carlos Oliva Campos, Gary Prevost
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Pluto Journals 2015-11-01
Series:International Journal of Cuban Studies
Online Access:https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.7.2.0142
_version_ 1797828770179055616
author Carlos Oliva Campos
Gary Prevost
author_facet Carlos Oliva Campos
Gary Prevost
author_sort Carlos Oliva Campos
collection DOAJ
description On 17 December 2014, the presidents of Cuba and the US, Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, announced simultaneously to the world the decision of an exchange of prisoners releasing the three Cuban intelligence operatives still in jail in American prisons – Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero – and the subcontractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in the island. Together with Gross, a CIA agent of Cuban origin was also released, and an agreement was reached to set free certain opponents of the Cuban government. The unexpected news was the decision to re-establish the bilateral diplomatic relations broken for more than 50 years. This article places the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US in the context of changing political relations in the Western Hemisphere culminating in Cuba's historic participation in the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama in April 2015. The authors argue that growing independent-minded thinking of key Latin American countries and their progressive leaders was a key factor in explaining Obama's overture to Cuba in the absence of any fundamental concessions from the Cuban side.
first_indexed 2024-04-09T13:09:42Z
format Article
id doaj.art-f53f323c9166422386d75d4f9dceef7c
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 1756-3461
1756-347X
language English
last_indexed 2024-04-09T13:09:42Z
publishDate 2015-11-01
publisher Pluto Journals
record_format Article
series International Journal of Cuban Studies
spelling doaj.art-f53f323c9166422386d75d4f9dceef7c2023-05-12T08:47:16ZengPluto JournalsInternational Journal of Cuban Studies1756-34611756-347X2015-11-017214216310.13169/intejcubastud.7.2.0142Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?Carlos Oliva CamposGary PrevostOn 17 December 2014, the presidents of Cuba and the US, Raúl Castro and Barack Obama, announced simultaneously to the world the decision of an exchange of prisoners releasing the three Cuban intelligence operatives still in jail in American prisons – Gerardo Hernández, Ramón Labañino and Antonio Guerrero – and the subcontractor Alan Gross, imprisoned in the island. Together with Gross, a CIA agent of Cuban origin was also released, and an agreement was reached to set free certain opponents of the Cuban government. The unexpected news was the decision to re-establish the bilateral diplomatic relations broken for more than 50 years. This article places the re-establishment of full diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US in the context of changing political relations in the Western Hemisphere culminating in Cuba's historic participation in the seventh Summit of the Americas in Panama in April 2015. The authors argue that growing independent-minded thinking of key Latin American countries and their progressive leaders was a key factor in explaining Obama's overture to Cuba in the absence of any fundamental concessions from the Cuban side.https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.7.2.0142
spellingShingle Carlos Oliva Campos
Gary Prevost
Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
International Journal of Cuban Studies
title Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
title_full Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
title_fullStr Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
title_full_unstemmed Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
title_short Cuba in the Western Hemisphere: What Has Changed?
title_sort cuba in the western hemisphere what has changed
url https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/intejcubastud.7.2.0142
work_keys_str_mv AT carlosolivacampos cubainthewesternhemispherewhathaschanged
AT garyprevost cubainthewesternhemispherewhathaschanged