Poll: Should President Obama shake the hand of Cuban President Raul Castro? - NJ.com

Barack Obama, Enrique Pena Nieto, Luis Alberto Moreno

President Barack Obama, right, talks with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, center, and Luis Alberto Moreno President of the Inter-American Development Bank, following their participation in the CEO Summit of the Americas panel discussion in Panama City, Panama. (Associated Press Photo)

Until this week, there had been no direct conversations between the presidents of the United States and Cuba in more than 50 years.

That changed this week when President Barack Obama and Cuban leader Raul Castro spoke to each other by phone.

The thaw in the lengthy diplomatic freeze between the United States and Cuba may get even warmer today when the two leaders meet face-to-face for the first time at the Summit of the Americas in Panama.

Secretary of State John Kerry and his Cuban counterpart held a lengthy meeting late Thursday night that was billed as the highest-level meeting between U.S. and Cuban officials in nearly six decades.

Kerry and his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodríguez, discussed restoring embassies in their respective countries, according to a source.

The United States severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1961 following the Cuban Revolution, which sent hundreds of thousands of Cubans into exile, setting off a tense relationship that has become a major factor in both U.S. domestic politics and international tensions. Cuban-Americans are an influential voting bloc in battle-state Florida, and the U.S.-Cuba rivalry has had repercussions for decades, from the Western Hemisphere to Africa.

It wasn't clear if Obama and Castro would greet each other today when the heads of state gather for a photo in the capital's walled Old City, then head to a group dinner.

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