Video: Roberta Jacobson on Thawing U.S.-Cuba Relations (Cuba Opportunity Summit)

Speakers:

• Roberta S. Jacobson, Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs, U.S. Department of State
• Susan Segal, President and CEO, Americas Society/Council of the Americas

At the Knowledge@Wharton's Cuba Opportunity Summit on April 1, Roberta Jacobson talked about the key steps to normalize relations between Cuba and the United States. The assistant secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere was interviewed by AS/COA President and CEO Susan Segal about her first official trip to the island in January 2015 and how the Obama administration plans to support the Cuban people in this time of transition. Jacobson believes opening embassies and fully restablishing diplomatic ties will be crucial to the process. "We began this process of normalization, but it's very important to understand that the reestablishement of diplomatic relations is only a very small part of normalization, which is a much longer process that will take years," she said.