venezuela has been cuba s not sugar daddy, but oil daddy. they have subsidized to cuba. russia a similar deal as well. russia and venezuela are both highly dependent on the price of oil. their economies are sinking fast as the price of oil falls. part of the thawing of the relationship goes to economics, cuba realizeding if we to want maintain any level of economic stanlt, little by the way the country has, they have to lessen their dependence on countries that are highly dependent on oil like venezuela. by the way, many think it s going to default on its debt because of this. and the subsidies they provide cuba, this is a major part, no doubt, of at least the beginning of the thawing of the story, ronan. which is the economics behind the reasoning. brian sullivan, such an important piece, i hope we can continue this conversation. thank you for junior insights. sure. we are moments away from
of congress who traveled from washington to cuba today. we re going to bring you any news that happens out of both of these. gross landed late this morning after as we mentioned being held for five years in captivity on espionage charges. he was arrested while working for a sub-contractor on a controversial u.s. agency for international development project, helping to set up internet access. cuba s view, circumventing their crackdowns on information access. president obama spoke about gross s release last hour from the white house, and announced that major overhaul in cuba policy. over many months my administration has held discussions with the cuban government about alan s case and other aspects of our relationship. his holiness pope francis issued a personal appeal to me and to cuba s president raul castro urging us to resolve alan s case and to address cuba s interest
steps. he looked pretty good to me. one family going through a very different reaction today, i wanted to ask you about, that s the family of armadow one of the four pilots that were killed that triggered a major moment in u.s./cuban relations. his sister told nbc news, they re pleased your brother is released, this is not an even exchange and can t believe our country has done this to us. what would you say to them today? i m sorry for any hardships that they re going through, but, truthfully, i can only feel happy today for us and our family. that s all i have to say about that. and we certainly join that sentiment of being extremely happy for you and your family. bonnie, sister of alan gross, thank you so much for taking the time to join us, and happy hanukkah. thank you, thank you. bye. this shake up in the cuba relationship has as we discussed some major economic
welcome back, everybody. a lot going on right now. any minute now we re expecting to hear from american alan gross and what will be his first news conference since his release from cuba today. after five years imprisoned on espionage charges, gross is home on u.s. soil. the release is just part of a seismic shift in relations between the u.s. and cuba. a seismic shift that could change cuba s economic fortunes at a time when the country needs that. that s in part because of the price of oil. a price plummeting now below # $0 a barrel. and some economies like venezuela and russia are backers of cuba. cnbc anchor brian sullivan joins us for more. i know you don t have a lot of time right now. i wanted to ask you though about the surrounding economic forces. first of all, how significant are the implications of this changing relationship, and second of all, how much is driven by the economic context we just talked about? second part first, a ton because listen, for years
rebuilding those relations with cuba. how do you think this will play out on the campaign trail in 2016? yes, we re in the 21st century. we re ready to move on. it will redowned to the president s favor. this will get all mixed up in the politics. remember, as you play to the cuban/american community, it is significantly split. in large part, fitz an older community or if it is the younger community. and therein is the difference as to whether they will accept or not accept this move. do you think it s realistic congress might act to lift the embargo on this. give that some time, ronan. it s too early. let s see how raul is going to react. if he s really going to start doing some reforms.