Havana, Cuba. Flickr/Bryan Jones. Some rights reserved.There is broad international support for the agreement between the US and Cuba to re-establish diplomatic relations, and those who oppose it seem irrelevant. The role played by the Vatican is important, especially because the mediator, Pope Francis, has gained legitimacy and influence as the first Latin American pope. This contributes to the significance of the negotiations, creating confusion among Catholic senators and members of Congress, many of whom are of Cuban origin, who strongly oppose the new diplomatic developments.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican and the son of Cuban emigrants, said of the opening towards Cuba: "It's absurd and it's part of a long record of coddling dictators and tyrants that this administration has established." These US representatives feel betrayed, but they are paying more attention to their national electorate instead of considering the Cuban reality: the urgent need for change in Cuban society.
But many more people have been promoting the normalisation of US-Cuban relations. Among them are conservative politicians and journalists like Patrick Buchanan and John McLaughlin, Democratic senator Patrick Lehahy, and Republican senator Jeff Flake. An important factor in normalising diplomatic relationships has been the publication by the New York Times of a series of editorials insisting on the need for change in US-Cuban relations. In November 2014 the Obama government praised the work of Cuban doctors during the Ebola crisis in West Africa, while Havana and Washington initiated conversations for an exchange of political prisoners. In May some former government officials recommended President Obama to change the US approach to Cuba.
