This handout photo from the Twitter account of Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz. shows Alan Gross arriving at Andrews Air Force Base, Md., Wednesday, Dec. 17, 2014. The US and Cuba have agreed to re-establish diplomatic relations and open economic and travel ties, marking a historic shift in U.S. policy toward the communist island after a half-century of enmity dating back to the Cold War, American officials said Wednesday. The announcement came amid a series of sudden confidence-building measures between the longtime foes, including the release of American prisoner Alan Gross, as well as a swap for a U.S. intelligence asset held in Cuba and the freeing of three Cubans jailed in the U.S. Gross' wife Judy is at center. (AP Photo/Sen. Jeff Flake)
(AP) - President Barack Obama declared the end of America's "outdated approach" to Cuba Wednesday, announcing the re-establishment of diplomatic relations as well as economic and travel ties with the communist island - a historic shift in U.S. policy that aims to bring an end to a half-century of Cold War enmity.
"Isolation has not worked," Obama said in remarks from the White House. "It's time for a new approach."
As Obama spoke, Cuban President Raul Castro was addressing his own nation from Havana. Obama and Castro spoke by phone for more than 45 minutes Tuesday, the first substantive presidential-level discussion between the U.S. and Cuba since 1961.
Wednesday's announcement followed more than a year of secret talks between the U.S. and Cuba. The re-establishment of diplomatic ties was accompanied by Cuba's release of American Alan Gross and the swap of a U.S. spy held in Cuba for three Cubans jailed in Florida.
Contributed by Julie Pace and Matthew Lee___
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