07-20-2015, 09:31 AM
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States and Cuba quietly ushered in a new era of post-Cold War relations on Monday, formall restoring diplomatic ties severed more than five decades ago and re-establishing embassies in each other’s capitals.
Just past the stroke of midnight, the two
countries reached a new milestone in the
historic thaw that began with a breakthrough
announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on Dec. 17.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez will preside
around 10:30 a.m. over the raising of the Cuban flag for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that will again serve as Havana’s embassy in Washington.
The hugely symbolic event will be followed by a
meeting at the State Department between
Secretary of State John Kerry and Rodriguez,
the first Cuban foreign minister on an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
While the Cubans hold their ceremony, the U.S. Embassy in Havana will also reopen. But no American flag will fly there until a visit by Kerry expected next month.
“We wanted the secretary to be there to oversee these important events,†a State Department official said.
Differences remain and efforts toward full
normalization between the United States and
the Communist-ruled island are expected to
proceed slowly. Monday's steps culminated
more than two years of negotiations between
governments that had long shunned each other.
More than 500 people will attend the Cubans’
festivities in Washington, including members of
Congress. No invitations went out to hardline
anti-Castro lawmakers. The U.S. delegation will
be headed by Assistant Secretary of State
Roberta Jacobson. Kerry and Rodriguez last met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks.
Aides see the outreach to Cuba as a boost to Obama's legacy. The re-establishment of embassies, agreed to on July 1, opens a new chapter of engagement by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off relations in 1961.
A full-service U.S. mission in Havana could offer some reassurance to companies interested in investing in Cuba and also help seed the way for more - although still heavily restricted - travel to the island by American citizens.
The normalization process has been slowed by lingering disputes, including over human rights, as well as Havana's desire to keep a tight rein on its society and state-run economy.
A U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will
remain in place, and only Congress can lift it. Even so, before dawn on Monday, the State
Department planned to hang a Cuban flag in its lobby among the banners of other countries with which Washington has relations.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter
Cooney and Howard Goller)
Just past the stroke of midnight, the two
countries reached a new milestone in the
historic thaw that began with a breakthrough
announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on Dec. 17.
Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez will preside
around 10:30 a.m. over the raising of the Cuban flag for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that will again serve as Havana’s embassy in Washington.
The hugely symbolic event will be followed by a
meeting at the State Department between
Secretary of State John Kerry and Rodriguez,
the first Cuban foreign minister on an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
While the Cubans hold their ceremony, the U.S. Embassy in Havana will also reopen. But no American flag will fly there until a visit by Kerry expected next month.
“We wanted the secretary to be there to oversee these important events,†a State Department official said.
Differences remain and efforts toward full
normalization between the United States and
the Communist-ruled island are expected to
proceed slowly. Monday's steps culminated
more than two years of negotiations between
governments that had long shunned each other.
More than 500 people will attend the Cubans’
festivities in Washington, including members of
Congress. No invitations went out to hardline
anti-Castro lawmakers. The U.S. delegation will
be headed by Assistant Secretary of State
Roberta Jacobson. Kerry and Rodriguez last met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks.
Aides see the outreach to Cuba as a boost to Obama's legacy. The re-establishment of embassies, agreed to on July 1, opens a new chapter of engagement by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off relations in 1961.
A full-service U.S. mission in Havana could offer some reassurance to companies interested in investing in Cuba and also help seed the way for more - although still heavily restricted - travel to the island by American citizens.
The normalization process has been slowed by lingering disputes, including over human rights, as well as Havana's desire to keep a tight rein on its society and state-run economy.
A U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will
remain in place, and only Congress can lift it. Even so, before dawn on Monday, the State
Department planned to hang a Cuban flag in its lobby among the banners of other countries with which Washington has relations.
(Reporting by Matt Spetalnick; Editing by Peter
Cooney and Howard Goller)
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