Secretary of State John Kerry had the honor of reopening the US embassy in Cuba 54 years after it was closed. But it was the pair of presidents, Barack Obama and Raul Castro, who made it happen, and each in his own way. Obama's explanation for the thaw in relations was that the old policy of isolating Cuba had not worked and that when something does not work for 50 years, it's time to try something new. Many suspect that Obama's engagement policy is not so simplistic, that it is a new strategy designed to overthrow the socialist political system put in place by Fidel Castro's 1959 Cuban Revolution. But Cuba is no Puerto Rico, which is a US territory. Cuba is a sovereign nation and will continue to be a socialist country. The re-establishment of diplomatic ties is a signal victory for the Obama administration, but Havana is not likely to bow to political pressure from the US to become a capitalist lackey of Washington. Many thought that after the collapse of the former Soviet Union in 1991, Cuba would follow suit. But it has survived US sanctions, and it is not about to start compromising on its sovereignty and territorial integrity. The only serious influence that Washington wields over it is in trade and economic dealings, and here the Caribbean island nation adopted a kind of socialism akin to that practiced in the People's Republic of China and Vietnam. Still, the Cuban government is in need of cash and as such could have been spurred on by the economic crisis its ally Venezuela is facing. Venezuela has given the Cuban government economic and ideological support for years, but falling oil prices have hit Venezuela hard and it may not be as generous in the future. In the same vein, Cuba insists on the lifting of the US economic, financial and trade embargo against it. Obama has eased some travel and business restrictions, but only Congress can lift the 53-year-old embargo, something that is unlikely to happen with Republicans controlling both chambers through the end of his term. Cuba is also demanding that the US return the naval base at Guantanamo, illegally occupied by the US in the aftermath of the 1903 Cuban-American War. The Cubans refuse to accept that the naval base is on a perpetual lease and view US control of it as an infringement of national sovereignty and territorial integrity. Even though this is the symbolic end of one of the last vestiges of the Cold War, signs of mistrust linger. The first problem to hit the new situation is the reluctance of certain right-wing US politicians to see an American ambassador dispatched to Havana. They point to the absence of dissidents who were not invited to the flag-raising ceremony in deference to the Cuban government, drawing complaints that the Cuban government has made no concessions in exchange for diplomatic ties. In return, however, at the ceremony, Kerry's call on Cuba to become more democratic was translated word for word to the Cuban people, something which would have been unheard of during Fidel Castro's draconian days. Cuba's history with the superpowers has provided some of the world's biggest news stories: The unsuccessful CIA-sponsored invasion by 1,500 Cuban exiles at the Bay of Pigs in 1961; the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis which brought the world to the brink of nuclear war; and the 125,000 Cubans who emigrated to the US in the Mariel boatlift of 1980. The headlines show that despite its tiny size, Cuba has had a significant impact on much larger powers. More than half a century of diplomatic animosity with one of them is at an end.
