On Wednesday, shortly after 12 ET, President Obama will announce major changes in U.S. policy towards Cuba. From a White House release, some of the details:
- The President has instructed the Secretary of State to immediately initiate discussions with Cuba on the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, which were severed in January 1961.
- In the coming months, we will re-establish an embassy in Havana and carry out high-level exchanges and visits between our two governments as part of the normalization process.
- General licenses will be made available for all authorized travelers ... under existing regulations and guidelines.
- Remittance levels will be raised from $500 to $2,000 per quarter for general donative remittances to Cuban nationals ...
- Licensed U.S. travelers to Cuba will be authorized to import $400 worth of goods from Cuba, of which no more than $100 can consist of tobacco products and alcohol combined.
And:
- Gross' "humanitarian" release by Cuba was accompanied by a separate spy swap, the officials said. Cuba also freed a U.S. intelligence source who has been jailed in Cuba for more than 20 years, although authorities did not identify that person for security reasons. The U.S. released three Cuban intelligence agents convicted of espionage in 2001.
- Cuba has agreed to release 53 political prisoners from a list of names provided by the United States.
Condemnation by Marco Rubio is scheduled for 12:30 ET.
8:19 AM PT: Note that according to senior administration officials, they cannot entirely lift the travel ban because Congress has to do that.