The Chief of Mission of the Unites States Interest Section in Havana Jeffrey DeLaurentis, right, at a news conference in Cuba on Jan. 23, 2015. President Obama nominated the career diplomat to become the first ambassador to Cuba in more than 50 years. (Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)

President Obama on Tuesday nominated the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than 55 years, setting up a battle with Republicans in Congress who oppose renewed relations with the communist island.

Obama picked Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who already is the chief diplomat in Havana, a job he's held since 2014. But now that diplomatic relations have been re-established, DeLaurentis can be promoted to full ambassador. The new post requires confirmation by the Republican-controlled Senate, which could produce a partisan fight.

Cuban-American Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas, both Republicans, tried to limit funding for the U.S. Embassy in Havana and said they would oppose any ambassador named by Obama.

DeLaurentis, a career diplomat, has served in Havana during the major transition of one-time Cold War foes to a new relationship that includes re-opening embassies in Washington and Havana and resuming travel and trade on a limited basis so far.

"Jeff's leadership has been vital throughout the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba, and the appointment of an ambassador is a common-sense step forward toward a more normal and productive relationship between our two countries," Obama said in a statement.

The choice of DeLaurentis is the latest move by the Obama administration to increase ties between the two countries. Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced in December 2014 that they would end the 50-year diplomatic freeze.

Obama said DeLaurentis is perfectly positioned to continue overseeing that transition.

"He is exactly the type of person we want to represent the United States in Cuba, and we only hurt ourselves by not being represented by an ambassador," Obama said. "If confirmed by the Senate, I know Jeff will build on the changes he helped bring about to better support the Cuban people and advance America's interests."

Rubio has said the U.S. shouldn't "reward" Cuba with an ambassador until Havana makes significant political reforms, improves human rights, returns U.S. fugitives living in Cuba and compensates U.S. citizens and businesses for property seized when Fidel Castro rose to power.

"President' Obama's appeasement of the region's only totalitarian regime has been a complete disaster," Rubio said Tuesday. "A U.S. ambassador is not going to influence the Cuban government, which is a dictatorial and closed regime. This nomination should go nowhere."

Ambassadors need a simple majority to win Senate confirmation. But senators have traditionally been allowed to impose a “hold” that can end the confirmation process, or Republican leadership can refuse to schedule a vote. Obama currently faces a similar battle to fill a Supreme Court vacancy with Merrick Garland, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., who attended last year's opening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, said DeLaurentis is "universally respected" by members of both political parties and is the "obvious choice" to become the next ambassador.

"We need an ambassador who knows Cuba, who is respected by the Cuban government, and who will stand up for U.S. interests and values. Jeff is that person," Leahy said Tuesday. "The Cuban people have their ambassador in Washington. The American people need their ambassador in Havana."

Read or Share this story: http://usat.ly/2dAOZ7q</s>WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama on Tuesday announced career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis as his choice to become the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than a half-century.

DeLaurentis currently is the top diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Senate confirmation is required but will be tough for the White House to win before Obama's term ends in January. Senators who argue that Cuba doesn't deserve diplomatic outreach from the U.S. have vowed to block any ambassador nomination, citing lack of progress on democracy and human rights on the island. Among them are Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who both have roots in Cuba.

Obama said Tuesday that DeLaurentis' leadership was "vital" throughout the process of normalizing ties with Cuba.

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced in December 2014 that the two countries had agreed, after secret negotiations, to restore diplomatic relations, including reopening embassies in each other's countries. The U.S. and Cuba severed diplomatic ties in 1961 during the Cold War.

Obama called the naming of an ambassador a "common-sense" step toward more productive relations between the U.S. and Cuba, and he said DeLaurentis is the best person for the job.

"Having an ambassador will make it easier to advocate for our interests, and will deepen our understanding even when we know that we will continue to have differences with the Cuban government," he said in a statement that called attention to DeLaurentis' extensive experience in Cuba and Latin America. "We only hurt ourselves by not being represented by an ambassador."

Cuba's top diplomat in Washington, Jose Cabanas, was given the rank of ambassador last year.

Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the top Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee that oversees the State Department and foreign operations, argued for DeLaurentis' confirmation.

"The Cuban people have their ambassador in Washington. The American people need their ambassador in Havana," Leahy said in a statement.

Since diplomatic relations were re-established on July 20, 2015, DeLaurentis has led a series of negotiations with Cuba on topics including human rights and the billions of dollars in U.S. claims against Cuba for properties that were confiscated during the country's revolution in 1959.

Even if ultimately unsuccessful, the nomination of a U.S. ambassador could provide a boost to the Obama administration's final months of negotiations with Cuba, a country highly attuned to the degree of respect it feels it is receiving from the U.S.

Earlier this year, Obama visited Cuba with his wife and daughters, the first visit by a sitting U.S. president in nearly seven decades.

Information for this article was contributed by Michael Weissenstein of The Associated Press.</s>President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than 50 years.

Obama's appointment of DeLaurentis, who has been the top American official at the U.S. embassy in Havana since relations with the communist-ruled island were restored last year, sets up what is expected to be a fierce confirmation battle in Congress during a presidential election year.</s>President Barack Obama on Tuesday tapped the highest-ranking US diplomat in Cuba as the first ambassador to the island in more than 50 years. But deep opposition among some senators means it's nearly impossible he'll be confirmed before the President leaves office.

Jeffrey DeLaurentis has served as the United States' charge d'affairs in Havana since 2014, overseeing the reopening of the US Embassy there and helping shepherd in a new era of US-Cuba ties.

Obama wrote in a statement that elevating DeLaurentis' title to "ambassador" was a "common sense step forward toward a more normal and productive relationship between our two countries."

"There is no public servant better suited to improve our ability to engage the Cuban people and advance US interests in Cuba than Jeff," Obama wrote.

DeLaurentis was long expected to be named to the ambassador post, but critics of Obama's Cuba policy have remained steadfast in their opposition to any nomination. Cuban-American Republican Sens. Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio have been among the most vocal critics, saying the Castro regime is still violating basic human rights.

In a statement Tuesday, Rubio wrote that "rewarding the Castro government with a US ambassador is another last-ditch legacy project for the President that needs to be stopped." "This nomination should go nowhere until the Castro regime makes significant and irreversible progress in the areas of human rights and political freedom for the Cuban people, and until longstanding concerns about the Cuban regime's theft of property and crimes against American citizens are addressed," Rubio wrote. Confirming DeLaurentis is yet another entry on a White House to-do list for Congress that seems destined to go unfulfilled, at least before November's elections. Among the other items: confirming Obama's Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland and ratifying the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal. Obama became the first sitting US president to visit Cuba in a half-century earlier this year. The last US ambassador to serve in Havana left the post in 1960 at the beginning of Fidel Castro's rule. The President has insisted that 50 years of enmity with Cuba hadn't yielded results for either Americans or Cubans, and maintains that a new approach will better serve both populations. "We only hurt ourselves by not being represented by an ambassador," he wrote in his statement Tuesday. "If confirmed by the Senate, I know Jeff will build on the changes he helped bring about to better support the Cuban people and advance America's interests."</s>President Obama on Tuesday nominated Jeffrey DeLaurentis to become the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than 50 years.

“Jeff’s leadership has been vital throughout the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba,” said Obama in a statement the White House released. “The appointment of an ambassador is a common sense step forward toward a more normal and productive relationship between our two countries.”

DeLaurentis, a career diplomat, began his latest post in Havana in August 2014. Obama announced four months later the U.S. would begin the process of normalizing relations with Cuba that ended in 1961.

DeLaurentis officially became the chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in July 2015 with the official restoration of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

LGBT activists from Cuba, U.S. meet with DeLaurentis

Cuban Foundation for LGBTI Rights President Nelson Gandulla is among the independent Cuban activists who have met with DeLaurentis. The U.S. government granted Orquídea Martínez, the mother of Alejandro Barrios Martínez, a Cuban national who was among the victims of the June massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla., a visa that allowed her to attend her son’s funeral in Florida.

“He has expressed his interest in learning about the problems facing the Cuban LGBTI community,” Gandulla told the Washington Blade on Tuesday. “He has expressed his support for the work that we are doing in Cuba.”

Members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles met with DeLaurentis in Havana in July 2015 and in March of this year respectively. Evan Wolfson, founder of Freedom to Marry, and Freedom to Work President Tico Almeida sat down with DeLaurentis in May while they were in the Cuban capital to attend events around the International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia.

“President Obama has made an outstanding choice for U.S. Ambassador to Cuba,” Almeida told the Blade on Tuesday in a statement. “For Cuban Americans like me who travel regularly to visit our family members in Cuba, it’s important to know that we have such a smart and well respected diplomat representing us and America’s interests and values during this historic process of normalizing relations and opening new opportunities for both Americans and Cubans.”

U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and Minnesota Congressman Tom Emmer have applauded DeLaurentis’ nomination, even though it faces an uphill battle in Congress from lawmakers who oppose the normalization of relations between Washington and Havana.

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who is of Cuban descent, has previously said he would block any potential ambassador to Cuba that Obama nominated. The Florida Republican reiterated his opposition in a statement his office issued on Tuesday.

“This nomination should go nowhere until the Castro regime makes significant and irreversible progress in the areas of human rights and political freedom for the Cuban people,” said Rubio, according to Politico.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), whose father was born in Cuba, is also a vocal critic of the normalization of relations between the U.S. and the Communist island.

“It’s great to see Republicans like Sen. Jeff Flake and Rep. Tom Emmer praising Mr. DeLaurentis, and it would be shameful for hardliners like Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio to continue relitigating old and tired debates by obstructing President Obama’s excellent choice,” Almeida told the Blade. “Rather than wasting time obstructing this nomination, Cruz and Rubio should take their first ever trip to Cuba to meet with Cuban entrepreneurs and citizens who will overwhelmingly tell them it’s long past time to end the failed embargo.”</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama has tapped a career diplomat to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than 50 years.

The White House announced Tuesday that Obama plans to nominate Jeffrey DeLaurentis to the post. DeLaurentis currently is the top diplomat at the U.S. Embassy in Havana.

Senate confirmation is required but could be tough to win before Obama’s term ends in January. Some Republican senators who oppose Obama’s decision to normalize relations with Cuba have promised to block any ambassador nomination.

Obama says DeLaurentis’ leadership was vital throughout the normalization process. He says nominating an ambassador is a “common-sense” step toward more normal and productive relations between the two countries.

Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro announced the resumption of diplomatic relations in December 2014.</s>Secretary of State John Kerry, right, is greeted on the tarmac by Jeffrey DeLaurentis at José Martí International Airport in Havana, Aug. 14, 2015. (Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Facing down congressional opponents of his historic outreach to Cuba, President Obama announced Tuesday that he has chosen highly respected career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Havana in 55 years. DeLaurentis is currently the top official at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba.

“There is no public servant better suited to improve our ability to engage the Cuban people and advance U.S. interests in Cuba than Jeff,” Obama said in a statement. “Jeff’s leadership has been vital throughout the normalization of relations between the United States and Cuba.”

The announcement is certain to touch off an election-year fight in which the confirmation of DeLaurentis will serve as a referendum of sorts on Obama’s policy of engaging Cuba. Republican Sens. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Cuban-Americans who tried and failed to win their party’s presidential nomination, have promised to block any effort to fill the post. They argue that the socialist government of President Raúl Castro has not undertaken the necessary economic and political reforms to earn such high-level engagement.

“We have such a basic difference on that,” Ben Rhodes, Obama’s deputy national security adviser, told Yahoo News. “To us, the concept that it’s a reward for a country to have an ambassador makes no sense. On the contrary, having an ambassador gives you a higher profile, a higher-ranked advocate for what America cares about, whether that’s bilateral cooperation or whether that’s speaking out for human rights.”

Still, Rhodes acknowledged, “it will be hard” to get DeLaurentis confirmed. While a simple Senate majority is required to approve an ambassadorial nomination, an individual senator can by tradition impose an anonymous hold that can at least delay, and even end, prospects for confirmation. And there’s no guarantee that the Republican majority will even schedule a vote.

“We have no illusions,” Rhodes said. “But we feel that it’s important to validate the good work that Jeff DeLaurentis has done while also indicating that we think the norm should be that there’s an ambassador — and put the onus on opponents to articulate why it makes any sense at all to not have such a well-qualified person in the position.”

Obama sent DeLaurentis to Havana in the summer of 2014, anticipating that what were secret talks with the Castro government would yield a deal to normalize diplomatic relations and expand economic and travel ties, officials say.

“We told the Cubans that at the time. We said, ‘We’re sending this person down. He’s more senior than we normally have. He’s an ambassador rank. He’s close to [National Security Adviser] Susan Rice, which mattered to them,” Rhodes said.

Obama and Raúl Castro shocked the world on Dec. 17, 2014, by announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations — including the reopening of embassies shuttered in the aftermath of the 1959 revolution that swept Fidel Castro to power. In March, Obama became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Cuba.

While the White House considered prominent Cuban-Americans for the post, finding a consensus candidate proved elusive. DeLaurentis proved himself the better candidate anyway, more than able to defend U.S. interests as well as forge relationships with the Cuban government and the Cuban-American community, people inside and outside the administration have told Yahoo News.

“A number of prominent Cuban-Americans volunteered to us that we if appointed anybody, it should be Jeff,” said Rhodes.

In addition to nominating DeLaurentis, the White House plans to use executive power to promote commercial and cultural exchanges while pushing Congress to act on easing restrictions on American travel to Cuba and prodding the Castro government to make good on promises of political and economic reform.

“Having an ambassador will make it easier to advocate for our interests and will deepen our understanding, even when we know that we will continue to have differences with the Cuban government,” Obama said. “We only hurt ourselves by not being represented by an ambassador.”

The United States and Cuba had operated “interests sections” — a step down from a formal embassy — for decades.</s>President Barack Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than five decades.

"The committee was notified of the nomination yesterday but has not yet received the appropriate paperwork to begin its work," Republican Senator Bob Corker said in a statement emailed to Reuters. "However, it is highly unlikely that an ambassador to Cuba would be approved in the lame-duck."

The appointment of DeLaurentis, the top American official at the U.S. embassy in Havana, marked Obama’s latest move to go as far as he can in normalizing ties between the former Cold War foes before he leaves office in January.

But the nomination must be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, which is seen as a long shot.

Corker's committee would have to hold a confirmation hearing for DeLaurentis and vote to approve his nomination before it would go to the full Senate, where it could be blocked by any senator.

Many lawmakers have warmly embraced Obama's moves toward more normal relations with Cuba, which became public in a shock announcement in December 2014. But several strongly oppose his efforts, arguing that Cuba must do far more to improve human rights before it can deal normally with the United States.

Cuban-American senators such as Republicans Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz and Democrat Robert Menendez are particularly opposed to Obama's policy. Rubio and Menendez are both members of the foreign relations panel.

Congress' "lame-duck" session takes place in November and December, after the elections on Nov. 8 and before the new Congress comes to Washington in January.</s>Gustavo Machin, the deputy director for U.S. affairs in the Cuban foreign ministry, told a news conference that Cuba will make those concerns known during a bilateral commission meeting on Friday in Washington.

"The Cuban delegation will point out the lack of advances of in the economic, commercial sphere," Machin said. "We consider the measures adopted by President Obama's administration are positive but still insufficient and limited."

Obama on Tuesday nominated career diplomat Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the top official at the U.S. Embassy in Havana since relations were restored last year, to be the first U.S. ambassador to Cuba in more than five decades.

This was "welcome" news, Machin said. Cuba appointed its ambassador to the U.S. a year ago. Still, the nomination must be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, which is seen as a long shot in a presidential election year and given expected strong resistance from Cuban-American senators including Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Obama should also use his executive powers, as he has done in the past, to further hollow out the trade embargo imposed on Cuba after its 1959 revolution, Machin said.

Only Congress can lift the embargo, and the Republican leadership is not expected to allow such a move anytime soon.

"If the president could... allow investment in telecoms, why can't he authorize investments in other areas?" Machin said.

If he allowed the export of certain Cuban products to the United States, why could he not broaden the export of Cuban products?" Machin asked.

Obama's critics meanwhile accuse him of already making too many concessions towards Cuba without getting enough in return.

Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said earlier this month that if elected he would seek to reverse the detente unless the leaders there allowed religious freedoms and freed political prisoners.

Machin said he hoped the next president would take into account the opinion of the majority of Americans, who agree with the opening to Cuba, according to opinion polls.

Despite the need for more progress still, the two countries have made concrete progress in improving relations over the past four months since a previous commission meeting, Machin said, for example re-launching commercial flights.</s>HAVANA — A top Cuban diplomat on Wednesday rejected Donald Trump's threat to undo detente with Cuba unless the single-party government meets the Republican presidential candidate's demands.

Trump said in Miami this month that he would reverse President Barack Obama's executive orders loosening the U.S. trade embargo on the island unless Cuba meets demands including "religious and political freedom for the Cuban people and the freeing of political prisoners."

Gustavo Machin, Cuba's deputy director of U.S. affairs, said Cuba would never be pressured into making internal reforms, and called on the next U.S. president to respect Cuba's right to self-determination.

"Cuba has always made clear that Cuba's internal matters aren't on the negotiating table," Machin told reporters. "They're a function of internal decisions by Cuba and the Cuban people and we really call on the next president of the United States to stick to those principles. They're not Cuba's principles; they're principles of international law."

Machin also urged Obama to issue a final round of orders loosening the embargo before the fifth and last major round of negotiations at the end of this year. The fourth round will take place Friday in Washington. Machin praised Obama's nomination of Jeffry DeLaurentis, the charge d'affaires
President Barack Obama nominates Jeffrey DeLaurentis as the first United States Ambassador to Cuba since 1961.