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On 17 December 2014, United States president Barack Obama and the leader of Cuba, Ra煤l Castro, announced the normalisation of their countries' relations, ending 54 years of hostility.

The announcement was a shock to most except a few trusted aides who had worked for18 months to make it happen.

Alejandro Castro, Ra煤l Castro's son, represented the Cuban side. While Ben Rhodes, Obama鈥檚 speech writer, was sent by the US.

Ben tells Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty how he and Alejandro found common ground whilst hashing out decades of bad blood.

They eventually flew to Vatican City to officially commit to Cuba and the United States' new co-operative future.

In 2017, President Donald Trump partially rolled back on the deal, tightening rules affecting travel and on sending funds to the Caribbean island nation.

Ben says: 鈥淭he US government made a liar out of me. I felt betrayed.鈥�

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

Recent episodes explore everything from football in Brazil, the history of the 鈥業ndian Titanic鈥� and the invention of air fryers, to Public Enemy鈥檚 Fight The Power, subway art and the political crisis in Georgia. We look at the lives of some of the most famous leaders, artists, scientists and personalities in history, including: visionary architect Antoni Gaudi and the design of the Sagrada Familia; Michael Jordan and his bespoke Nike trainers; Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal; and G枚rel Hanser, manager of legendary Swedish pop band Abba on the influence they鈥檝e had on the music industry. You can learn all about fascinating and surprising stories, such as the time an Iraqi journalist hurled his shoes at the President of the United States in protest of America鈥檚 occupation of Iraq; the creation of the Hollywood commercial that changed advertising forever; and the ascent of the first Aboriginal MP.

(Photo: Ra煤l Castro and Barack Obama. Credit: Getty Images)

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