“The president has courageously decided to change a policy that doesn’t work and to move us down a different path. It will begin slowly. The first thing is diplomatic relations, then we will move towards a process of normalization,” Kerry said in an interview with ABC.
Eased travel restrictions will increase the Cuban people’s opportunity for expression and exchange of views with US citizens, which will “promote a transformation over a period of time,” according to the politician.
Addressing his recent historic meeting with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, Kerry described the talks as “very good."
Obama and Castro met on the sidelines of the seventh Summit of the Americas, a triennial meeting between political leaders of the Western Hemisphere, earlier in the week. Cuba had long been excluded from these summits by US initiative.
In December 2014, Obama announced his intention to normalize US-Cuba relations, which hit rock bottom following the 1959 Cuban Revolution. The US president said he wanted to open an embassy in Havana and to ultimately lift trade and travel embargo on Cuba.
