President Obama formally announced Wednesday that the United States and Cuba would reestablish embassies in their respective capitals. This marks the end to historically nonexistent diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba.

“You don’t have to be imprisoned by the past,” Obama said. “If something isn’t working, we can and will change.”

During his speech, Obama stressed that despite still having strong ideological differences, Cuba and the United States have shared interests regarding the war on terror and natural disaster relief. The Cuban embassy will open in Washington DC on July 20th. The U.S. embassy in Havana will open shortly afterwards.

Cuba has been dropped from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism, and Obama also announced that Congress would end the decades-long embargo that preventing Cuban businessmen from traveling between the two countries.