LIVE: Obama announces talks with Cuba

President Obama will announce Wednesday that the U.S. is beginning talks with Havana to normalize relations with Cuba following the release of a U.S. prisoner jailed for five years by the country. 

{mosads}Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) in a press release hailed the decision, while The Associated Press reported the U.S. would use the talks to open an embassy in the island nation.

“Opening the door with Cuba for trade, travel, and the exchange of ideas will create a force for positive change in Cuba that more than 50 years of our current policy of exclusion could not achieve,” Durbin said in his release.

Obama is expected to deliver a statement at noon from the White House.

The Obama administration’s decision is sure to set off a firestorm of debate with Congress and in the Cuban population in Florida, a crucial state in any presidential election.

Read more from The Hill.