The first US secretary of state to visit the Caribbean island in 70 years, Kerry presided over a ceremony raising the US flag over the newly reopened American embassy.
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A worker tests the audio equipment in the patio of U.S. Embassy where the flag raising ceremony will take place, in Havana, Cuba, Thursday, August 13, 2015.
His comments drew a firm riposte from Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who defended Cuba at a news conference with Kerry and criticized the United States’ own record on rights, referring to racial strife and police brutality in America.
The U.S. tried several times to hold discussions with Cuban officials about the details of Obama’s loosening of U.S. regulations, but those meetings never happened amid the pressure to strike a deal allowing the reopening of embassies in Havana and Washington on July 20.
Now that the United States and Cuba have restored diplomatic ties, what does it mean for other Latin American countries?
And in Cuba, dissidents have expressed concern that closer ties between the governments will leave them out in the cold.
The state department said it had limited space at what it called a government-to-government event, and invited dissidents to a separate afternoon flag-raising at the home of the embassy’s chief of mission.
Four weeks ago US and Cuba renewed their diplomatic relations formally.
Relations between the two countries have been strained since the United States attempted to oust Fidel Castro, Cuba’s communist leader from 1959 to 2008.
“We have many things we need to work on together, ranging from law enforcement, maritime security, education, health, telecommunications, “Kerry said”.
He also said that there are no plans to discuss the devolution of the naval base in Guantanamo or to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, which provides for a special procedure under which Cuban natives or citizens and their accompanying spouses and children get a permanent residence in the United States.
Some members of the U.S. Congress traveled to Cuba alongside Mr. Kerry.
Trimpa Group also hired Luis Miranda, former White House director of communications for Hispanic media, and created the organization #CubaNow, which pushed for the policy change and the lifting of the U.S. embargo on Cuba. The secret talks that led to the re-establishment of U.S.-Cuban diplomatic relations are just the highest-profile example.
He said during the war the US kept its territory and industries, and the richest and most well-armed country on earth, while other countries counted their dead.
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“I will give the Castros a choice: either continue repressing your people and lose the diplomatic relations and benefits provided by President Obama, or carry out meaningful political and human rights reforms and receive increased U.S. trade, investment, and support”, Rubio said.
