The New York Times urged President Obama this weekend to end the embargo to Cuba and to resume diplomatic relationships with the country.

“For the first time in more than 50 years, shifting politics in the United States and changing policies in Cuba make it politically feasible to re-establish formal diplomatic relations and dismantle the senseless embargo,” reads the  Sunday editorial. “Obama should seize this opportunity to end a long era of enmity and help a population that has suffered enormously since Washington ended diplomatic relations.”

The news organization cites the following examples of advancement and reforms in Cuba: 

• Allowing citizens to take private-sector jobs and own property.
• A construction project to build a seaport with Brazilian capital.
• The negotiation of cooperation agreement with the European Union.
• The release of most political prisoners who had been held for years. 
• The relaxation of travel restrictions for Cubans. 

“The pace of reforms has been slow and there has been backsliding. Still, these changes show Cuba is positioning itself for a post-embargo era,” reads the editorial.

The United States and Cuba ended diplomatic relations in 1961, and the embargo was imposed one year later. 

In 2009 the Obama administration took important steps to ease the embargo, for example, making it easier for Cubans in the United States to send remittances to Cuba and authorizing more Cuban-Americans to travel there, and also paving the way for initiatives to expand Internet and cellphone access on the island.

“But there is much more the White House could do on its own,” reads the editorial.