Andrea Mitchell has spoken of how Kerry and the Vatican have been working on Cuba

[karynnj]

11. This may be weirdly like the climate change pact, where Kerry was barely mentioned at first ---

then gradually seen to have been the key Obama administration person. It is true that had any of these things happened in the first term, it was have been exclusively seen as the work of the then Secretary of State.

Here, while Rhodes was involved - and many like that one give him full credit - reading key MSM sources, there are many pieces where Kerry was key. For example, the WP credits Kerry for getting the Pope involved. Kind of an important piece - especially when some accounts credit Pope Francis for starting the entire thing!



"In their first conversation after Obama named John Kerry his new secretary of state, the two discussed Gross’ ongoing incarceration in Cuba and their broader dissatisfaction with America’s policy toward the island. Kerry quickly enlisted the assistance of the Vatican, one of the few institutions in the world broadly respected in the U.S. and Cuba. The Roman Catholic Church’s help would prove significant."

and

"Kerry, meanwhile, held four telephone calls over the same period with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez. The calls focused on Gross, senior administration officials said, with Kerry telling the Cubans that if anything happened to the 65-year-old Maryland native their chances of better relations with the U.S. would be over."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-revived-ties-with-cuba-came-to-be/2014/12/18/247857ac-868e-11e4-abcf-5a3d7b3b20b8_story.html