According to various media outlets, the United States and Cuba are set to officially announced the reopening of their embassies.
The Cuba Journal reported Wednesday that the two sides are set to make an official announcement of the moves on Wednesday, according to a number of senior U.S. administration officials.
President Barack Obama and U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will announce the agreement, which will see embassies open in Havana and Washington for the first time since 1961, according to the Cuba Journal report.
The news comes about a month after the Obama administration removed Cuba from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, a crucial step in normalizing ties between Washington and Havana and the latest progress in President Obama’s push to thaw relations between the United States and the island nation.
According to CNN.com, the United States will ease travel and trade restrictions with Cuba on Friday, marking the first concrete steps towards restoring normal ties with the Cold War-era foe since announcing a historic rapprochement.
In early June, it was reported that the Republican-controlled chamber voted 247 to 176 to retain a Cuba-related provision in a transportation funding bill. It would block new rules issued in January that would significantly relax restrictions on travel to Cuba and allow regularly scheduled flights for the first time.
According to the report, the administration rules lift a requirement that American travelers obtain a license from the Treasury Department before traveling to Cuba. Instead, all that is required is for travelers to assert that their trip would serve educational, religious or other permitted purposes. The White House has threatened to veto the bill, in part because of the Cuba-related provision. The measure is also caught in a broader battle between Republicans controlling Congress and the White House and Democrats over spending for domestic agencies.
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