WASHINGTON - President Obama on Dec. 17 ordered the restoration of full diplomatic relations with Cuba and the opening of an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than a half-century as he vowed to "cut loose the shackles of the past" and sweep aside one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.
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The New York Times: US to restore full relations with Cuba, erasing a last trace of Cold War hostility (PHOTOS)
President Barack Obama delivers an address to the nation from the Cabinet Room of the White House, on December 17, 2014.
