Political Sociologist Dr Alexander Smith said President Barack Obama's proposed visit to Cuba is historic and brings to an end half a century of hostility between the USA and Cuba.

He said: 'This was one of Barack Obama's major foreign policy achievements and his trip to Cuba, as part of a larger tour of Latin America, will be a fitting way to mark his final year in the White House. Just as interesting, of course, will be watching how this issue plays out in the Republican Party's fractious Presidential primary election. In the run-up to votes in important states like Florida, where significant numbers of Cuban-Americans remain skeptical of the President's policy in relation to their former homeland, candidates like Senator Marco Rubio may seek to make capital out of the thawing of hostilities between America and one of her oldest, Cold War-era adversaries.'

Tom Frew, International Press Officer, a.t.frew@warwick.ac.uk, +44(0)7785433155