DeLaurentis appointed first US ambassador to Cuba in 55 years

United States have appointed its first Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis to Cuba in 55 years as relations between the countries thaw.

Nominating DeLaurentis's name, President Barack Obama said it was a step towards a more normal and productive relationship. But he may face a battle in Congress where some Republicans are opposed to his dealings with the communist island.

President Obama said there was no better qualified public servant. The new ambassador DeLaurentis had been working at the new US embassy in Havana, which opened in July last year.

DeLaurentis, a former deputy assistant secretary of state for of Western Hemisphere Affairs, would be the first full ambassador to Havana since October 1960, when Philip W. Bonsal left the post, which was terminated three months later after President Dwight D. Eisenhower severed U.S. relations in response to Fidel Castro's communist revolution.