On Friday, the American flag will once again fly over the U.S. Embassy in Cuba, the most potent symbol of the shift in relations between two countries that throughout the Cold War bristled with open hostility toward one another.
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Wishing you a belated happy birthday!: A black and white image of Fidel Castro is propped up against a wall in an apartment building undergoing renovations in Old Havana, Cuba, Thursday.
He said the US owes Cuba indemnifications “that rise to numerous millions of dollars” for damage caused by the embargo. “This is obviously a unique environment”. On the hand side, you have the Bolivarian Alliance (ALBA)-Ecuador, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Bolivia, and Venezuela-all governed by authoritarians in the mold of Castro.
While Cuba has increased its highly limited Internet access since December 17 in a measure U.S. officials partially attribute to the warming with Washington, ordinary Cubans are growing increasingly impatient for concrete results from the new relationship. In late May, the U.S. removed Cuba from the list of state sponsors of terrorism.
‘There’s been a lot of hard work’.
From left, James Tracy, Larry Morris and Mike East – the Marines who lowered the flag at the U.S. Embassy in Havana in 1961. “There’s been a lot of hard work that went into this but it’s the right thing to do and to wake up on a historic day is actually pretty cool”.
Relations with the US were broken in 1961 as he led Cuba rapidly into a socialist model allied with the Soviet Union. Kerry will meet Cuban dissidents at the US embassy residence in Havana on Friday afternoon. That same day, Cuba announced that it had freed jailed American contractor Alan Gross and the U.S. released three Cuban spies in exchange for an imprisoned U.S. intelligence asset.
Management Officer Martina Polt was one of the many behind-the-scenes people who handled the logistics in a country infamous for shortages and scarcities.
“She’d try to make sure I married a good Cuban woman”, he says, with a chuckle. The United States soon recognizes the new government. The seal was locked away in a maintenance closet.
However, he said, if American companies see European companies eating their lunch, it could “generate more support for changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba”. When asked about Friday’s events and its possible repercussions, she said “it’s possible [to have] a new opening, more economic developments for our families, for our country – for us”. “I really never thought I would see this in my lifetime”. The United States for its part says Cuba owes $7 billion to American citizens and companies whose property was seized after Castro came to power.
“I am just fired up at that”, said Fox of the historical moment. “People have this sort of over-romanticized version of Cuba in their head. Then I think it’s very particular conversations begin”.
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Cuba’s government has silenced many artists who dare to criticize the regime, people like Cuban performance artist Tania Bruguera who has been frequently detained and had her passport confiscated by authorities.
