TheCuban thaw^[1][2] (Spanish:deshielo cubano,^[3][4]pronounced[desˈʝelokuˈβano]) was a normalization ofCuba–United States relations from July 2015 to June 2017, ending a 54-year stretch of hostility between the nations. In March 2016,Barack Obama became the firstU.S. president to visitCuba sinceCalvin Coolidge in 1928.^[5] Thediplomatic détente was rolled back under both PresidentsDonald Trump andJoe Biden.

Cuban thaw

U.S. President Obama meets with Cuban leader Raúl Castro inPanama, 2015
Date	July 20, 2015 (2015-7-20) – June 16, 2017 (2017-6-16)
Also known as	Normalization of relations between the governments of Cuba and the United States
Patron(s)	Pope Francis
Organized by	President of the United StatesBarack Obama, President of the State Council of Cuba and First Secretary of the Communist PartyRaúl Castro, Prime Minister of CanadaStephen Harper, Pope Francis, Holy See
Participants	Canada  Cuba  Holy See  United States

On December 17, 2014, U.S. President Obama and Cuban leaderRaúl Castro announced the beginning of the process of normalizing relations between Cuba and theUnited States. The normalization agreement was secretly negotiated in preceding months, facilitated byPope Francis and largely hosted by theGovernment of Canada. Meetings were held in bothCanada andVatican City.^[6] The agreement would see the lifting of some U.S. travel restrictions, fewer restrictions on remittances, U.S. banks' access to theCuban financial system,^[7] and the reopening of theU.S. embassy in Havana and theCuban embassy in Washington, which both closed in 1961 after the breakup of diplomatic relations as a result ofCuba's close alliance with theUSSR.^[8][9] On April 14, 2015, theObama administration announced that Cuba would be removed from the U.S.State Sponsors of Terrorism list. With no congressional action to block this within the permitted time period, Cuba was officially removed from the list on May 29, 2015. This marked a further departure by the U.S. from theCold War conflict and its strain on Cuba–U.S. relations.^[10] On July 20, 2015, the Cuban and U.S. "interests sections" in Washington and Havana were upgraded to embassies.^[11]

On June 16, 2017, President Trump indicated a reversal of multiple policies easing theU.S. embargo against Cuba, while expressing an interest in further dialogue.^[12][13] Select restrictions on travel to and from Cuba reactivated on November 8th, with new restrictions imposed on "direct financial transactions" with businesses linked to theCuban armed forces and interior ministries on November 9th.^[14][15] President Biden initially eased U.S. restrictions on family remittences and visa permits in 2022, but similarly levied multiple sanctions against Cuba thereafter.^[16][17] The U.S. government retaliated against the Cuban government forprotest crackdowns andhuman rights abuse in 2021 and again in 2024 forsimilar protest crackdowns.^[18][19] Relations have since materially deteriorated due to stark differences on immigration, counterterrorism, civil and political rights,human rights on the island, electoral interference, disinformation campaigns, humanitarian aid, trade policy, financial claims,fugitive extradition andCuban foreign policy.

In May 2012, it was reported that the U.S. had declined a "spy swap" proposed by the Cuban government, wherein the remaining three of an original group of Cuban prisoners the U.S. had convicted of espionage known as theCuban Five, in prison in the U.S. since the 1990s, would be returned to Cuba in exchange forUSAID contractorAlan Gross. Gross had been imprisoned in Cuba for providing illegal cellphone chips of a type used by CIA agents, which are designed to evade detection,^[20] in addition to computer equipment, satellite phones, and internet access to Cuba's Jewish community.^[21]

Despite initial U.S. refusals, the prisoner swap eventually took place in December 2014 following the President's announcement of intent to move towards normalized relations.^[22] In addition to Gross, the swap includedRolando Sarraff Trujillo, a Cuban who had worked as an agent for American intelligence and had been in a Cuban prison for nearly 20 years.^[23][24][25] Additionally, in early January 2015, the Cuban government began releasing a number of imprisoned dissidents, as requested by the United States. On January 12, 2015, it was reported that all 53 dissidents had been released.^[26]

The prisoner swap marked the biggest shift inWhite House policy towards Cuba since the imposition of theembargo in 1962, and removed a key obstacle to bilateral relations.^[27] Since the exchange, Gross has become a vocal advocate of the normalization of relations, even offering to visit Cuba again in support of such a result.

Although the Cuban trade embargo can only be ended by the U.S. Congress, the Obama administration took executive action to ease some restrictions on travel to Cuba by U.S. citizens, as well as restrictions on the import and export of goods between each country.^[28] In his2015 State of the Union Address toCongress, Obama called on lawmakers to lift theembargo against Cuba,^[29] a message he reiterated in2016.^[30]

In February 2015,Conan O'Brien became the first American television personality to film in Cuba after the thaw, and only the third in more than half a century,^[31] culminating in the firstConan Without Bordersspecial. In May 2015, theMinnesota Orchestra performed several concerts in Havana, the first professional U.S. orchestra to play in Cuba since 1999.^[32]

Major League Baseball (MLB) held talks about playingspring training games in Cuba in 2015, but lacked time to arrange them.^[33] MLB CommissionerRob Manfred said on March 19, 2015, that the league would likely play an exhibition game in Cuba sometime in early 2016^[34] and on March 22, 2016, theTampa Bay Rays played an exhibition game against theCuba national team atEstadio Latinoamericano in Havana with Presidents Obama and Castro in attendance.^[35]

Sun Country Airlines began operating charter flights between New York'sJohn F. Kennedy International Airport and Havana'sJosé Martí International Airport in March 2015.^[36] On May 5, 2015, the United States granted approval to four companies to offer charteredferry service between Miami and Cuba.^[37] In March 2016,Carnival Cruise Line received permission from Cuba to resume cruises from Miami to Havana for the first time in fifty years.^[38] Cuba, however, still prohibited the Cuban-born from returning by sea, and Carnival therefore refused to accept reservations from the Cuban-born. Following public protests against such an exclusionary policy, Carnival told the Cuban authorities it would not sail unless the policy was changed, the Cuban government relented, and the first Carnival cruise sailed from Miami on May 1, 2016.^[39]

Between January and May 2015, the number of Americans visiting Cuba who had no family ties there was 36% higher than during the same months in 2014.^[40] A report by thePew Research Center found that the number of Cubans entering the U.S. in 2015 was 78% higher than in 2014.^[41]

It has been said that the United States–Cuban thaw was spurred by Cuba's main international partner, Venezuela, experiencing sharp economic decline.^[42][43] Venezuela subsidized the government of Cuba, however following the oil price drop resulting from the2010s oil glut, could no longer afford to do so.(see alsoPink tide#Decline)

On January 21, 2015, the United States and Cuba began bilateral talks in Havana to discuss further normalization issues. The U.S. delegation led byU.S. Assistant Secretary of StateRoberta S. Jacobson, andJosefina Vidal Ferreiro, Cuba's head of North American affairs, sat down for the first day of closed-door talks in the capital's Convention Center. The talks reportedly centered around migration policy.^[44] In particular, Cuban representatives urged the U.S. to end its immigration privileges to Cuban refugees, also known as thewet feet, dry feet policy,^{[needs update]} which allows any fleeing Cuban citizens U.S. residency andcitizenship, as long as they are found on U.S. soil and not at sea.^[44] Reuters reported that civilian uncertainty about the status ofU.S. immigration policy following the thaw was promoting a surge of emigrants fleeing Cuba for the U.S.^[45]

In regard to U.S. interests, the U.S. delegation made it clear that "improved human rights conditions, including freedom of expression and assembly", remain a central element of U.S. policy in normalizing U.S.–Cuban relations.^[46] Furthermore, despite Cuban objections, the U.S. stated that it will stand by its Cuban migration policy under theCuban Adjustment Act.^[46]

A second round of talks took place inWashington, D.C., late in February 2015. Negotiators described the talks as productive and said several issues were close to resolution. However, the issue of Cuba's listing among state sponsors of terrorism by the U.S. government remained a significant sticking point, although Cuban diplomatJosefina Vidal said its removal was not strictly a precondition to reopening embassies.^[47]

A third round of talks were held in Havana from March 16–17, 2015. However, the talks ended abruptly after just a day, without any public comment.^[48] Obama and Castro themselves met at theSummit of the Americas inPanama on April 10–11, where Castro delivered an address praising Obama and apologizing for blaming his government for the ongoing U.S. embargo.^[49] After meeting with Obama, Castro called for the reopening of the embassies, while both presidents said they were looking forward to more direct engagement between Cuba and the United States despite their differences.^[50]

The Vatican andPope Francis played a symbolic but substantial role in helping facilitate the normalization of diplomatic relation between the U.S. and Cuba. The Catholic Church has remained in close cooperation with Havana even after the1959 revolution.^[51]

In addition to Cuba's concern over U.S. migration policy, the Cuban delegation assured the U.S. that normalization talks would not yield significant changes unless Cuba is removed from the U.S. State Department's list ofstate sponsors of terrorism. Cuba was one of four countries on the list, the other three beingIran,Sudan, andSyria. The U.S. government said that it had begun an intelligence review in order to evaluate whether Cuba can be removed from the list.^[52][53]

On April 14, 2015, President Obama informed theU.S. Congress that he had decided to lift the designation of Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism because "the government of Cuba has not provided any support for international terrorism during the preceding six-month period", and it "has provided assurances that it will not support acts of international terrorism in the future".^[10][54] The U.S. Congress could have blocked this by passing legislation within 45 days, but no member of Congress even introduced such legislation, and Cuba was officially removed from the list on May 29, 2015.^[55][56]

On May 20, 2015, the Cuban government opened a bank account in the United States, enabling it to do non-cash business in the United States for the first time since the embargo began.^[57]

Cuba and the United States officially resumed full diplomatic relations at midnight on July 20, 2015, with the "Cuban interests section" inWashington, D.C., and the "U.S. interests section" inHavana being upgraded to embassies.^[58] A ceremony was held at the Cuban Embassy to raise theflag of Cuba, with U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry and Cuban Foreign MinisterBruno Rodríguez Parrilla holding a joint news conference afterward at which they emphasized both the step forward in bilateral relations and the remaining political differences between the Cuban and U.S. governments.^[59] Kerry flew to Cuba in late July for a ceremony at which theflag of the United States was raised over the US Embassy in Havana.^[60] Cuban dissidents, however, were not invited to attend the flag raising ceremony.^[61] In September 2015, Cuban diplomatJosé Ramón Cabañas Rodríguez was appointed the firstAmbassador of Cuba to the United States in 50 years.^[62]

On January 28, 2015, while attending a meeting of Latin American leaders inSan José, Costa Rica, Cuban leader Raúl Castro asserted that the United States should return theGuantanamo Bay Naval Base and lift the embargo on Cuba if relations were to be considered fully normalized.^[63]

The White House responded the next day, saying that it had no intention to return the base. White House spokesmanJosh Earnest indicated any such move is out of the question. "The President does believe that theprison at Guantánamo Bay should be closed down, but thenaval base is not something that we wish to be closed."^[64] This issue has yet to be resolved.

The United States government stated specific goals in improving trade with Cuba.Roberta Jacobson, an American diplomat, suggested bolsteringInternet access and mobile phone service in Cuba to help its integration into theworld economy.^[65] This provided American telecommunication companies includingVerizon andSprint with a new market in Cuba.^[66] By July 20, 2016, US companiesAirbnb andNetflix were operating in Cuba as well.^[67]

The United States sought to increase revenue fromtourism in Cuba by lifting traveling restrictions which can be used for purchase of American agricultural and manufacturing exports to Cuba.^[68] On March 20, 2016,Starwood became the first US company to sign a deal with Cuba since the 1959 revolution and agreed to manage two Havana hotels which had formerly been owned by the Cuban government.^[69] The first of these hotels opened three months later on June 27.^[70] A number of American companies support further economic ties with Cuba, as do advocacy groups likeEngage Cuba.

On December 11, 2015, the United States and Cuba agreed to restore postal service between the two countries for the first time since 1963.^[72] A week later, on December 17, 2015 – the first anniversary of D17 – an agreement was reached to re-establish regularly scheduled flights between the U.S. and Cuba for the first time since theCuban Missile Crisis.^[73] The agreement, which allows for 110 flights a day, took effect on February 16, 2016.^[74] Mail service between the two countries resumed on March 17, 2016.^[75]

On July 7, 2016, it was announced that eight US airline companies had been given tentative approval to fly to airports in Cuba and that flights, which would be limited to educational trips, would begin as early as September.^[76] On August 31, 2016,JetBlue became the first US commercial airline in more than 50 years to land a plane carrying US passengers at a Cuban airport whenFlight 387 took off fromFort Lauderdale, Florida and landed inSanta Clara, Cuba.^[77][78] More flights have since followed,^{[79][80][81][82]} and two planes from JetBlue and American Airlines also made history by landing in the capital city of Havana on November 28, 2016,^[83][84] marking the first time in more than 50 years that a US commercial flight landed in Havana.^[85]

By November 2017, however, several airline companies had quit doing flights to Cuba.^[86]

President Obama arrived in Cuba for a three-day visit on March 20, 2016.^[87] Obama headed a delegation of between 800 and 1,200, including businesspeople and congressional leaders who had helped in establishing the 2014 normalization deal.^[88]

Obama was thefirst sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba sinceCalvin Coolidge in 1928.^[88] Obama said that he would only visit Cuba if he could meet withCuban dissidents: "If I go on a visit, then part of the deal is that I get to talk to everybody. I've made it very clear in my conversations directly with Cuban leader Raúl Castro that we would continue to reach out to those who want to broaden the scope for, you know, free expression inside of Cuba."^[89]

On April 22, 2016, it was announced that travel restrictions on U.S.commercial vessels had been lifted and that theCarnival Cruise Line could travel to Cuba.^[90]

On May 1, 2016, theMVAdonia, acruise ship operated by Carnival subsidiaryFathom Travel, departed from Miami and docked inHavana Bay, marking the first time in nearly 40 years that a U.S. passenger ship sailed from the U.S. to Cuba.^[91] Carnival said that theAdonia would go from Miami to Havana every other week.^[92]

Two other Miami-based cruise lines,Royal Caribbean andNorwegian, were interested in running cruises to Cuba and sought Cuban government authorization.^[91] A number of Floridaferry companies received authorization from theU.S. Department of the Treasury to begin service to Cuba, but the companies were waiting on Cuban government permission.^[90][91]

In June 2019, theTrump administration made a policy reversal by banning cruise ship travel to Cuba.^[93]

Raúl Castro, theFirst Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, served as the leader since 2011 and one of the leaders of theCuban Revolution of the 1950s, declared in 2013 that "a slow and orderly transfer of the leadership of the revolution to the new generations" was already in progress.^[94] Castro pledged not to seek reelection in 2018.^[95] In announcing the agreement in December 2014, Castro struck a balance between praising theMarxist revolution that brought him and his brotherFidel to power almost 60 years prior and extolling the benefits that would be brought about by improved relations with the United States, namely the end of theCuban embargo.

Fidel Castro appeared to welcome the thaw between Cuba and the United States in a statement published byGranma on January 26, 2015. Despite saying that he "does not trust United States policies", he stated, "We will always defend cooperation and friendship with all the peoples of the world, among them our political adversaries."^[96]

However, later in 2016, Fidel Castro asserted his criticism of Obama, acknowledging his own anger with Obama's March trip to Cuba in which he called for Cubans to look toward the future. A week after the trip, Castro wrote a sternly worded letter admonishing Obama to read up on Cuban history, and declaring that "we don't need the empire to give us anything."^[97]

In December 2014, Raúl Castro publicly thanked Pope Francis and the Catholic Church for their role in the secret talks that led to the U.S.–Cuban prisoner exchange. According to Church officials within Cuba, several plans to build Catholic churches, which have been blocked since the revolution in 1959, are being processed. The first church is to be built inSandino. It will be the first Catholic church to be built in Cuba since 1959, when the communist Castro regime declared the country an atheist state.^[98]

At aCELAC meeting in 2015, Raúl Castro gave a speech claiming "Cuba will continue to defend the ideas for which our people have assumed the greatest sacrifices and risks." In that speech, he detailed the history of Cuba's foreign relations. Throughout the speech, he condemned the United States' history ofmanifest destiny, detailing a basic history of American and Cuban relations. After talking about the United States' policy in Cuba, he went on to condemn the United States' assistance in installing the "terrible dictatorships in 20 countries, 12 of them simultaneously", referring to the United States' supporting of Latin American dictatorships. Following that, Castro detailed Cuba's history following theCuban Revolution. But despite his prior backlash against the United States, Castro summarized his speech by praising the recent improvements in American-Cuban relations, and wondered why "the countries of the two Americas, the North and the South, fight together against terrorism, drug trafficking and organized crime, without politically biased positions."^[99]

The Cuban thaw has received a mixed reception among politicians in the United States. Prominent critics include SenatorMarco Rubio ofFlorida. Rubio, aCuban-AmericanRepublican, said that "diplomatic recognition [would] provide legitimacy to a government that doesn't deserve it."^[100][101] The2014 congressional elections were a month prior to the announcement of the thaw.

SenatorBob Menendez, a Cuban-AmericanDemocrat fromNew Jersey and chairman of theSenate Foreign Relations Committee was an early critic of Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba. Writing inUSA Today on December 17, Menendez criticized Obama "for compromising on bedrock U.S. values", charging that the Obama administration "has wrongly rewarded a totalitarian regime and thrown the Cuban regime an economic lifeline".^[102] Among the few other Democrats who have criticized Obama over the shift in relations with Cuba are two members of the House of Representatives:Albio Sires^[103] andDebbie Wasserman-Schultz.^[104]

Congressional opponents of the new Cuba policy vowed to try to block its implementation, with Rubio announcing he would hold up the confirmation of anyU.S. ambassador to Cuba whom Obama might nominate.^[105][106] Republican SenatorTed Cruz ofTexas described the policy as a "tragic mistake."^[107] However, theAssociated Press reported that business groups like theU.S. Chamber of Commerce would likely apply pressure on congressmen to accept the diplomatic thaw, andRepublican SenatorJeff Flake ofArizona, a supporter of the shift, predicted many congressmen would come around.^[108]

Like Senator Flake, SenatorRand Paul, a Republican from Kentucky, supports the thaw on the grounds that increased trade relations will benefit both Cubans and Americans. Senator Paul, in response to Senator Rubio, argued that "Senator Rubio is acting like an isolationist", and that, "The 50-year embargo just hasn't worked. If the goal is regime change, it sure doesn't seem to be working."^[109]

Similarly, Obama's former Secretary of State and 2016 presidential candidateHillary Clinton strongly endorsed the decision. Clinton has argued that the embargo "had propped up the Castro government because they could blame all of the country's problems on the United States. Moreover, the embargo did not have any impact on freedom of speech, freedom of expression, or on freeing political prisoners."^[110][111]

A survey conducted byPew Research Center in January 2016 found that 63% of Americans approved of Obama's decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, while 28% disapproved. The study found that Democrats (74%) and Independents (67%) were more likely to support the re-established relations; 40% of Republicans approved. The study also found that 66% of Americans supported ending the trade embargo against Cuba, while 28% disapproved. Support for both the re-establishment of relations and the lifting of the trade embargo was seen broadly amongst all racial and ethnic groups (62% of whites, 64% of blacks, and 65% of Hispanics) and amongst all age-brackets, however younger Americans were more likely to support it than older Americans. Americans who were college or university graduates (77%) overwhelmingly supported the restoration of relations, while people with only some college education (59%) or only high school education (53%) were less likely to support it. Despite broad support for the re-establishment of diplomatic relations and the end of the trade embargo, only 32% of Americans surveyed believed that Cuba would become "more democratic" over the next several years, with 60% believing the situation in Cuba will remain the same.^[112]

International reactions were overwhelmingly positive, withRadio Poland having reported that thePolish foreign ministry is encouraging Washington to go further and lift the embargo.^[113]

China, also one of Cuba's closest allies, welcomed the resumption of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States.^[114]

Israel was one of the few countries not to issue a statement welcoming the change, and it was reported that the Israeli Foreign Ministry is "miffed" at having been caught off guard by the change.^[115]Cuba–Israel relations have been icy since the 1960s, and Israel has been the only country to consistently side with the US againstUN resolutions criticizing the embargo.

SeveralLatin American leaders publicly welcomed the thaw, withVenezuelan PresidentNicolás Maduro hailing Obama's move toward normalization as a "valiant and historically necessary gesture", despite being a regular critic of U.S. policy.^[116] Colombian Liberal ex-PresidentErnesto Samper in his capacity as President ofUNASUR said that "this was very good news, not only for Cuba but for the entire region".Juan Carlos Varela, the conservative President of Panama, said that in the7th Summit of the Americas to be held in his country after April 7, 2015, it will be possible to "achieve the dream of a united region".^[117]

TheCanadian government, which maintainedmore positive relations with Cuba than the United States did during and after the Cold War, also responded favorably, with Foreign MinisterJohn Baird suggesting toThe Atlantic commentatorJeffrey Goldberg that the policy shift could help "transform" Cuba for the better.^[118]

Media sources, which were quick to dub the sudden turnaround in relations the "Cuban thaw",^[2] have predicted that it will lead to a wide variety of social and economic benefits for the two countries, as well as some less obvious impacts.Newsweek reported that the stock market jumped once elements of the Cuban thaw were reported.^[1]Reuters reported that the thaw would "make it more likely the Cuban government will extraditefugitives sought by U.S. officials."^[119] TheAssociated Press reported environmentalist concerns that the thaw would lead to the opening of "one of the most prolific oil and gas basins on the planet", which sits off the coast of Cuba.^[120]Bloomberg News reported that the thaw would even benefitMajor League Baseball, with teams gaining major new opportunities to sign Cuban players.^[121] There were reports on how the Cuban thaw affected Cuban society, including its real estate market and greater emphasis on English language education.^[122][123]

The New Republic deemed the Cuban thaw to be "Obama's finest foreign policy achievement."^[124] The Indonesian journalStrategic Review proposed that Obama could follow the model of normalization of relations which his predecessorBill Clinton had done withUnited States-Vietnam relations.^[125]

Granma, Cuba's state newspaper, published numerous articles regarding the Cuban thaw. It stated that "International public opinion supports removal of Cuba from U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism," and that "[t]he decision is recognized as an important step in advancing President Obama's policy change to improve relations between the two countries."^[126] Additionally, they stated that "[t]he Cuban government recognizes the just decision taken by the President of the United States to eliminate Cuba from a list on which it never should have been included" and reiterated that Cuba "rejects and condemns all acts of terrorism in all their forms and manifestations, as well as any action that is intended to instigate, support, finance or conceal terrorist acts."^[127]

In broader culture, the Cuban thaw served as inspiration the artworkThe Pact by leading Cuban-American Contemporary artistJosignacio. Considered a significant work in his oeuvre,The Pact depicts the widely circulated media image of President Obama with Raúl Castro in Panama while adding the symbolic silhouettes of theAmerican Bald Eagle,Fidel Castro, as well as the image of Cuban national heroJosé Martí. The work was acquired by theTampa Museum of Art due to its cultural significance in capturing the historic resumption of diplomatic relations between both nations, as well as thehistoric links in Tampa to Cuba.^[128] The museum's acquisition ofThe Pact was covered byDiario Las Américas, the second oldest media outlet in the United States dedicated to Spanish-language readers.^[128]

On June 16, 2017, PresidentDonald Trump issued apresidential memorandum reversing some aspects of the Obama administration's actions regarding U.S. relations with Cuba, and characterizing them as "terrible and misguided".^[129][130] He announced a prohibition on American money going to the Cuban military, in particular in dealings with entities within the Grupo de Administracion Empresarial, a conglomerate which the Cuban military manages, having the effect of placing certain hotels and other tourism facilities off-limits to Americans.^[131][132] In addition, he removed permission for individual "people-to-people" travel to Cuba by Americans, while leaving in place travel permission for organized "educational" groups, family visits and other categories.^[133] Airline and cruise ship visits to Cuba would continue to be permitted, diplomatic relations would remain in place, and the embassies would remain open, according to Trump's announcement.^[133] The new restrictions would go into effect only after appropriate regulations were drawn up by the Treasury and Commerce departments.^[131]

On November 8, 2017, the White House announced that the new regulations would take effect starting November 9, 2017.^[134] Although the individual "people-to-people" trips were stopped, the new rules made clearer that the "support for the Cuban people" category was suitable for individual travel. The restrictions on dealings with military-controlled companies did not go as far as some had expected.

On June 4, 2019, the Trump administration announced a full ban on cruise ship, private yacht, or plane travel to Cuba. It also announced a ban on "people-to-people" travel, which was until that point the most popular legal mechanism for American travel to the island, largely because it was the category used by cruise lines for their tours. The sanctions had been first mentioned a few days earlier, in a speech by US National Security advisorJohn Bolton to veterans of the failedBay of Pigs invasion of Cuba inMiami. The CubanMinister of Foreign Affairs,Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, stated that the Cuban state "rejected" the sanctions, which it viewed as aiming to suffocate the island's economy and harm its living standards in order to achieve political concessions.^{[93][135][136][137]}

In September 2019, further changes were made in relation to remittances.^[138]

TheBiden administration had initially continued the sanctions from the Trump administration againstCuba; however, in May 2022, some of the sanctions were reversed, with policy changes such as expansion of flights to Cuba and resumption of a family reunification program.^[17]

In 2024, theTreasury Department published details of President Biden's plan to support Cuba's private sector and internet freedom.^[139]

On 14 January 2025, the Biden administration removed Cuba from theState Sponsors of Terrorism list, as part of a Vatican-brokered prisoner release deal. The deal will see the release of 553 prisoners detained for "diverse crimes," including those imprisoned during the2021 protests. According to a senior official of the Biden administration, an assessment on Cuba had been completed and found that there was no information supporting Cuba’s designation.^[140] However, because the removal occurred in the final week of Biden's presidency, the designation may be reversed by the incomingsecond Trump administration. US Secretary of StateMarco Rubio has long supported punitive measures against the Cuban government.^[141]

• Khrushchev Thaw

•   Media related toUnited States–Cuban Thaw at Wikimedia Commons