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In everyday life, a handshake is rather ordinary. But when President Obama shook hands Tuesday with Cuban leader Raul Castro at a memorial service for the late South African President Nelson Mandela, this was how it was described:

— "a simple gesture that signaled possible thawing between the leaders of the two Cold War foes"

— "an unprecedented gesture"

— "perhaps a deliberate seizing of the moment to edge forward the prospect of a thaw in relations ... after more than half a century of hostility"

— "a symbolic gesture that came after decades of estranged U.S.-Cuba relations"

Despite Tuesday's handshake, Obama told mourners in Johannesburg that "too many who claim solidarity with Madiba's [Mandela's tribe name] struggle for freedom ... do not tolerate dissent from their own people." It was an apparent reference to Castro and leaders of other nondemocratic nations gathered at the service.

Background

Cuba and the U.S. have been at loggerheads since Fidel Castro, Raul's brother, overthrew the regime of Fulgencio Batista in 1959. The U.S. imposed sanctions on Fidel Castro's communist regime in 1960, sanctions that have stayed in place since then.

Many Cubans who fled the island for Florida after the revolution are opposed to any easing of the embargo. The measures have hurt the Cuban economy but have done little to weaken the regime. Fidel Castro stepped down from the presidency in 2008 at the age of 82, handing the reins of power to his brother and comrade-in-arms Raul Castro, who was 77 at the time.

Obama's encounter with Raul Castro Tuesday isn't the first time a sitting U.S. president has shaken hands with a Cuban leader. President Clinton did just that with Fidel Castro in September 2000 at the U.N. General Assembly, a move which at the time was describe as "just a cordial conversation." That handshake came a month before the trade sanctions were amended to allow the sale of U.S. agricultural products to Cuba.

Relations

The U.S. policy is to isolate Cuba diplomatically and to keep the embargo in place. The two countries do not maintain diplomatic ties but have representation through the Swiss Embassy in Havana and Washington, D.C., respectively.

The U.S. regards Cuba as a state sponsor of terrorism and has criticized the Castro regime's human rights record. The U.S. is also concerned about the case of Alan Gross, an American contractor who is in a Cuban jail, accused of espionage. Cuba says it will only release Gross if the U.S. releases some Cubans accused of spying in the U.S.

But trade is another issue, as the Council on Foreign Relations notes in this primer:

"In 2008, U.S. companies exported roughly $710 million worth of food and agricultural products to the island nation, according to the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. However, that number fell by about 50 percent in 2012. Total agricultural exports since 2001 reached $3.5 billion as of February 2012. Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas have all brokered agricultural deals with Cuba in recent years."