Diplomatic relations: US and Cuba’s quiet revolution

Diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba have been officially restored after more than 50 years, ending decades of enmity between the two countries.

Following Fidel Castro’s revolutionary coup, diplomatic ties were severed by president Dwight Eisenhower in 1961, the same year that Barack Obama was born.

The rapprochement was announced on December 17, as Obama and his Cuban counterpart, Raul Castro, agreed to end their countries’ estrangement and put them on track towards a full normalisation of relations.