Last month’s landmark deal to resume diplomatic ties between Washington and Havana was supposed to end more than a half-century of hostility that at one point threatened to blow the whole world to kingdom come. These days that just looks like wishful thinking.
The United States and Cuba have yet to agree on the fine print needed to reopen embassies in each other’s capitals. And many US Congress members, particularly Republicans, are gearing up to block any bill that would fully dismantle the American trade embargo on the still sort of communist island.
But despite it all — the lingering mistrust, the bureaucratic delays, and conservative hesitations — the relationship between Cuba and the United States is already starting to heal. And, in the process, Cuba is beginning to emerge from its 1950s time warp. Here is the proof: