The Stars and Stripes rose yesterday over the newly reopened US Embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years, making a symbolically charged victory lap for the Obama administration’s new policy of engagement with the country.
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U.S. Secretary of State John is greeted by Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Chief of Protocol Lidia Gonzales and Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, Chargé d’Affaires of U.S.
If he did have the ear of Secretary Kerry, this is what he’d have said: “The [Cuban] government is feeling more relaxed to repress us because they are completely focused on transferring power to their families and political allies”.
“Kerry’s message was that the United States would continue to support democracy and pressing the subject of human rights in Cuba“, said Martha Beatriz Roque, one of 75 former political prisoners jailed in what is known as the Black Spring of 2003.
Kerry later shed his jacket and tie to take a stroll around Old Havana, stopping to buy a humidor and visit a cigar and rum shop as he got a tour of the colonial district surrounded by bodyguards, journalists and crowds of bemused onlookers.
Underlining the sticking points still complicating relations, Fidel Castro said in an essay published in Cuban state media Thursday, August 13 – his 89th birthday – that the United States owes Cuba “many millions of dollars” because of the trade embargo.
That would be news to the U.S. travelers and businesses eager to engage Cuba on the same terms as the rest of the world. US President Barack Obama has so far failed to deliver on his campaign promise of closing the detention camp at the base amid opposition from the Republican-controlled Congress.
“The current U.S. policy on Cuba will strengthen and legitimize the dictatorship and is undercutting Cuban democracies”, he said.
While reiterating Cuba’s desire to normalise ties with the US on the basis of respect and equality, Rodriguez expressed his conviction that “beyond the differences between our governments, which will obviously not disappear, it is possible to build civilized and productive relations”. The United States top diplomat arrived in Havana at 9:00 a.m. on board a State Department plane.
US Secretary of State John Kerry presided over a flag rising ceremony at the residence of the US ambassador in Havana on Friday. “There is no way Congress will lift the embargo if we are not making progress on issues of conscience”, he said.
On the other end of the spectrum, Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton has been fighting for the U.S.to lift its trade embargo against Cuba.
The seven-story seafront building in Havana and Cuba’s mansion in Washington were closed from 1961 until 1977, when they reopened as interests sections.
While clearly the Cuban government won’t change overnight, Zarate said the question is, “can we deluge it with American influence and commerce, and can that [have an] impact as a younger demographic takes over in the country?”
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While initial improvements in relations have been made, both sides admit there is a long road ahead before relations are fully normalized.
