The nomination must be approved by the Republican-controlled Senate, which is seen as a long shot, especially in a presidential election year and given expected strong resistance from Cuban-American senators including Marco Rubio of Florida and Ted Cruz of Texas.

Rubio, in a blistering statement, derided the nomination as a “last-ditch legacy project” by Obama and said it “should go nowhere.”

An individual senator has the power - one that is often invoked - to put a “hold” on an ambassadorial nomination to delay a full Senate vote.

In a veiled appeal to lawmakers, Obama praised DeLaurentis for his leadership during the normalization process. “We only hurt ourselves by not being represented by an ambassador” in Havana, he said in a statement.

“Having an ambassador will make it easier to advocate for our interests and will deepen our understanding even when we know that we will continue to have differences with the Cuban government,” Obama said.

DeLaurentis had been widely tipped for the post. But the president held off naming him until now even as Cuba appointed its own ambassador to Washington shortly after embassies were reopened in both countries’ capitals in July of last year.

He would be the first U.S. envoy since Philip Bonsal, an appointee of President Dwight Eisenhower, left the post vacant in late 1960.

NOMINATION FOLLOWS OBAMA VISIT

Obama traveled to Havana in March, the first visit by a U.S. president in 88 years. The trip was made possible by his breakthrough agreement with Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014 to cast aside decades of hostility that began soon after Cuba’s 1959 revolution.