Yesterday, after more than 50 years, we began to change America's relationship with the people of Cuba.

President Obama:Yesterday, after more than 50 years, we began to change America's relationship with the people of Cuba.

 Yesterday, after more than 50 years, we began to change America's relationship with the people of Cuba. We are recognizing the struggle and sacrifice of the Cuban people, both in the U.S. and in Cuba, and ending an outdated approach that has failed to advance U.S. interests for decades. In doing so, we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries. I was born in 1961, just over two years after Fidel Castro took power in Cuba, and just as the U.S. severed diplomatic relations with that country. Our complicated relationship with this nation played out over the course of my lifetime -- against the backdrop of the Cold War, with our steadfast opposition to communism in the foreground. Year after year, an ideological and economic barrier hardened between us. That previous approach failed to promote change, and it's failed to empower or engage the Cuban people. It's time to cut loose the shackles of the past and reach for a new and better future with this country....

Charting a New Course on Cuba