GLOBALLY, human relations are changing for the better, and this augurs well for humankind. The three-day visit to Cuba by U.S President Barack Obama (20th-22nd March) is the first for a sitting U.S President in 88 years.The Obama administration continues to dismantle policies toward Cuba that are rooted in the Fidel Castro-led 1959 revolution that overthrew the U.S-backed Fulgencio Batista government. U.S responses to the Castro government saw the breaking off of diplomatic relations and the imposition of a trade embargo. Thus the forging of new relations between the two countries will inevitably impact not only their relations, but also international relations and cooperation.

It is worthy to note that as Obama pushes forward with this foreign policy agenda, what comes across distinctively is a desire to effect change through engagement. This policy makes sense in that the refusal to talk even with one’s enemy — perceived or real — can never bring about resolution to matters affecting the parties. Further, it makes absolutely no sense to be wedded to a position when times have changed and the majority presently affected by the fallout of the war was not part of the war.

Typical of Obama’s character of finding common ground in breaking the ice and forging relations, during his visit, he emphasised the commonality of the people of Cuba and USA, pointing out areas such as religion and culture, and visited the statute of Cuban hero Jose Marti, who helped push for independence from Spain.

To pretend that the change in U.S/Cuba relations has not been without its distractors is to ignore audible reservations by opponents, both from the political and Cuban-American influences. The efforts to forge new relations between the two countries and the meeting in Havana were not without hard work. It was a process that began in 2012 in secret talks this were buttressed by the will and commitment of the two leaders, who recognised that they have a responsibility to the people of their countries.

Where the U.S is concerned, it is recognition that there cannot be talks about peace and tranquility in the Middle East while at the same time having an estranged and hostile relationship with one of its close neighbours. For Cuba, recognition is that the world has changed and their closed society can no longer suffice and meet the needs of an anxious populace.

Change is critical to survival. It is this recognition by both sides that, working together, will be in their mutual interest. What is instructive is that both Obama and Cuba President Raul Castro called for an end to the U.S. embargo, though a timeline was not given by U.S. Both men agreed on the closing of Guantanamo, which Obama made a part of his 2008 presidential run.

While some may attribute weakness to the promise that the embargo will be lifted and those deemed by Cuba as political prisoners will be freed, the net benefits to the U.S economy with the lifting of the embargo and the empowerment of Cubans from speaking directly to them is greater. This is shrewd international politics by the Obama administration.

As an aside, in 1973, during U.S President Richard Nixon’s second inauguration, then President Fidel Castro was asked by British journalist Brian Davis: “When do you believe relations between Cuba and the United States, countries that are quite distant despite their geographical proximity, could be re-established?” Castro responded: “The United States will sit down and talk with us when it has a black president and the world has a Latin American Pope.”

Looking at this statement now that the U.S has a black president and Pope Francis is from Latin American, there may be inclination to think that Castro was being prophetic. In fact, Castro, who is still alive, was at the time making a statement consistent with a reality that the U.S socio-political climate was skewed against minorities, and the Catholic Church, a world-renowned institution, was not strident in addressing U.S/Cuba relations in an objective manner.

The desire for the thawing of U.S/Cuba post 1959 relations has had the influence of Guyana. The struggle to end apartheid, which was part of Guyana’s foreign policy agenda, saw us allowing Cuban planes en route to Southern Africa to be refuelled here. Guyana also played a leading role in CARICOM in having the community normalise relationship with Cuba. In both instances, these actions did not sit comfortably with the U.S.

President Obama, during his tenure, has demonstrated recognition that even when bombs are being thrown and countries and persons are at odds with each other, it requires engagement, formal and informal, behind the scene and across the table, with a view to bringing about resolutions and forging harmonious relations for mutual respect and benefit.