Lots of diplomacy, not many dollars

ON DECEMBER 17th 2014 Barack Obama and Ral Castro surprised the world by announcing that the United States and Cuba had agreed to restore diplomatic relations, frozen since 1961. In Havana the news was greeted with euphoria'some residents unfurled the Stars and Stripes alongside the Cuban flag, and church bells rang out. Across the Florida Strait, the excitement was almost as great: businesses of many descriptions announced breathless plans to penetrate a long-forbidden market.A year on, the excitement is tempered by realism. On the diplomatic front, progress has been significant. After the reopening of embassies, talks have begun on substantive issues, ranging from law-enforcement co-operation to human rights, organised under the aegis of a new Cuba-United States steering committee.On December 8th officials from both countries met to open discussions about the vexed issue of compensation claims. After the revolution Fidel Castro grabbed homes, mines and mills from American citizens and companies. The Justice Department's Foreign Claims Settlement Commission has accepted nearly 6,000 claims worth a total of $1.9 billion (excluding...Continue reading
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