In remarks at a flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, Kerry says “I want to sincerely thank leaders from throughout the Americas who have long urged the United States and Cuba to restore normal ties”.
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He noted that State Department spokesman John Kirby publicly criticized Cuba for detentions over the weekend. That drew complaints from opponents of the opening to Cuba, who say Havana has made no concessions in exchange for diplomatic ties.
“It would be equally unrealistic to expect normalizing relations to have in a short term in transformation impact, after all, Cuba’s future is for Cubans to shape”, he said.
Kerry made plain that despite the historic opening between the Cold War-era foes, Washington would continue to push for democratic reform.
“We remain convinced that the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders, express their ideas and practice their faith; where the commitment to economic and social justice is realized more fully; where institutions are answerable to those they serve; and where civil society is independent and allowed to flourish”.
Dissidents were not invited to the embassy ceremony, avoiding tensions with Cuban officials who typically boycott events attended by the country’s small political opposition.
Mr Kerry said at the ceremony the US administration wish to lift its trade embargo on Cuba but have so far been blocked by the Republican-controlled congress. Rodriguez says the two top diplomats discussed improving U.S.-Cuban cooperation on environmental protection, law enforcement and other matters. He was received by the new charge daffaires at the U.S. Embassy in Havana, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, and Cuban Foreign Ministry officials.
For more than fifty years relations between the United States and Cuba were anything but agreeable, something that residents of this area know all too well.
Despite the reestablishment of relations between the two countries following a 54 year-long diplomatic estrangement, the US economic embargo has not yet been lifted.
A Marine from Memphis who lowered the flag over the U.S. Embassy in Cuba for the final time half a century ago returned to Havana on Friday for a ceremony marking the embassy’s reopening.
Kerry, speaking before assembled dignitaries, remembered the strained history of U.S.-Cuba relations, including the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, when the Soviet Union was discovered to be siting nuclear rockets on the island nation.
Protesters demonstrate against the reopening of the US embassy in Havana, in the Little Havana neighborhood in Miami, Florida August 14, 2015. Kerry said he was due to meet dissidents at a private event later today.
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Kerry later shed his jacket and tie to take a stroll around Old Havana, checking out a stand selling Cuban cigars and humidors as he got a tour of the colonial district, surrounded by bodyguards, journalists and curious onlookers. Excluding them entirely would likely anger those opposed to Obama’s new policy. The second will tackle more complex topics like the establishment of direct airline flights and U.S. telecommunications deals with Cuba.
