Cuba and the United States have made slow progress in the six months since the two countries began negotiations to restore diplomatic relations, with no date set yet for the reopening of embassies.

On Dec 17, Cuban President Raul Castro and his US counterpart, Barack Obama, announced simultaneously in Havana and Washington the beginning of negotiations after over a year of secret contacts.

Castro and Obama surprised the world with the announcement, opening the door to the possibility of rebuilding relations between the two countries, which have been protagonists almost since the triumph of the Cuban Revolution on Jan 1, 1959.