Second Obstacle...

For those who dismiss the UN as the arbiter for a solution, then I see very little hope otherwise. This has been made clear for almost half a century.

For those who wish for a pragmatic (and perhaps immediate) solution continue reading.

As mentioned below, the US embargo towards Cuba, called the "economic, commercial and financial embargo" by the UN general assembly, is an obstacle to the possibility of the UN as a venue to negotiations between the US and Cuba.

Now, this is a serious setback if one is familiar with the background of the embargo.

There is a widespread opposition to the US embargo towards Cuba in the US. If one reads the mainstream literature on foreign relations concerning US and Cuba, one will notice that the majority of researchers are opposed to the policy or are baffled by it. At another time I shall go over some of the quotes of the leading academics concerning US policy towards Cuba. But, for now let me quote one well known mainstream historian of US and Cuba relations, Timothy Naftali, current director of the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. He appeared on C-Span's Washington Journal program on April 17, 2006 (for the anniversary of the Bay of Pigs) and made some points about the embargo. Naftali has also written extensively on the US/Cuba conflict with one book called "One Hell of a Gamble": Khrushchev, Castro and Kennedy, 1958-1964 (with Aleksandr Fursenko) and other articles.

While he is not a expert on foreign policy, but a historian, concerning the US embargo towards Cuba, Naftali said that it is a "cold war relic", and that "it's self-defeating to wall off Cuba", and that the embargo is a "political, strategic mistake."

Now, that's the mainstream. And that's also along the line of what most Americans think too. According to the latest Gallup poll "more than two-thirds support re-establishing diplomatic ties with Cuba."[1]

You may be asking yourself that if there is so much opposition to the embargo, then why is it still there?

Florida politics.

And, that's a huge obstacle.

[1]http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=/Politics/archive/200612/POL20061219a.html