Excerpts from Books and Wikipedia
"In 2009, United States President Barack Obama stated on 17 April, in Trinidad and Tobago that 'the United States seeks a new beginning with Cuba', and reversed the Bush Administration's prohibition on travel and remittances by Cuban-Americans from the United States to Cuba. Five years later, an agreement between the United States and Cuba, popularly called 'The Cuban Thaw', brokered in part by Canada and Pope Francis, began the process of restoring international relations between the two countries. They agreed to release political prisoners and the United States began the process of creating an embassy in Havana. This was realized on 30 June 2015, when Cuba and the U.S. reached a deal to reopen embassies in their respective capitals on 20 July 2015 and reestablish diplomatic relations." [Wikipedia]