US Congress threat to Cuba thaw
Opponents of President Barack Obama's new Cuba policy have threatened to block his efforts to restore diplomatic relations after 50 years of hostility, the BBC reports.
Florida Senator Marco Rubio promised on CNN to block the nomination of any US ambassador to Cuba.
Other anti-Castro legislators suggested Congress should remove funding for any normalized ties with the country.
US-Cuban ties have been frozen since the early 1960s - a policy of isolation Mr Obama condemned as a failure.
On Wednesday, the US president said it was time for a new approach.
As part of the deal, US contractor Alan Gross, 65, and an unnamed intelligence officer loyal to the US were released from Cuban prison in return for three Cubans held in the US.
It is interesting to note that there is a marked contrast between Cuban Americans around the US, who tend to favor normal relations between the two countries, and leading Cuban American congressmen in Washington.
Senators Robert Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey, and Marco Rubio, a Republican from Florida, have played very vocal roles in the Senate Foreign Relations committee, and they have both been very critical of President Obama's announcement yesterday.
Mr Rubio said he didn't care if "99% of people in polls" disagreed with his stance, a message that could resonate in Florida, the traditional home of the Cuban exile community but also a state that is increasingly becoming more diverse and less dominated by Cuban affairs.
Ultimately, comments like these come to show how so-called hardliners still have significant clout when it comes to preventing a new course in bilateral relations, even when common Cubans, especially younger generations, have moved on beyond these traditional views.
The US will now seek to set up an embassy in Cuba, expand US visitors to Cuba, open up banking and increase caps on how much cash Cubans can post to relatives on to the island.
But only Congress has the power to end the full trade embargo, and with many Republicans deeply opposed to such a change, correspondents say it is unlikely to happen soon.
Among those opposed to restoring diplomatic relations was Democratic Senator Robert Menendez who said he was "deeply disappointed".
"It's a fallacy to believe that Cuba will reform because an American president opens his hands and the Castro brothers will suddenly unclench their fists."
Fellow Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican, said he would be among those trying to pass legislation to undercut funding for policy changes, including setting up an embassy.
"Normalizing relations with Cuba is a bad idea at a bad time," tweeted Mr Graham, who will become chairman of a committee that determines state department funding in January.
Republican Senator Marco Rubio slammed the deal as "inexplicable".
"Appeasing the Castro brothers will only cause other tyrants from Caracas to Tehran to Pyongyang to see that they can take advantage of President Obama's naivete during his final two years in office," Mr Rubio said in a statement.
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