On Friday, the three Marines, now in their 70s, returned to Havana alongside Secretary of State John F. Kerry and raise the flag again.
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Tracy – who served in the Marines for 30 years – was a master gunnery sergeant tasked with lowering the flag at the embassy in Havana when the U.S. severed relations with Cuba on January 4, 1961.
The historically charged photo-op put a coda on the historic rapprochement announced on December 17 by US President Barack Obama and Cuban counterpart Raul Castro, which paved the way for the two countries to reopen their embassies on July 20.
“The people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders”, Kerry told those in attendance, according to BBC. “Cuba is also interested in human rights”, said Rodriguez Parilla. The U.S. won the Cold War, but lost the battle against Fidel Castro, who sided with the Soviet Union and who has opposed the U.S.in Latin America and around the world.
“I look forward to meeting whoever I meet and listening to them and having, you know, whatever views come at me”, Kerry said.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said the country was ready to discuss any issue with the United States, including human rights – “though we may not always agree”, he added, speaking alongside Kerry at a joint press conference.
Restored diplomatic ties mean U.S. diplomats can travel more freely and increase staff. Cuba has also reduced the number of security guards who keep on eye on Cubans going in and out.
“The current U.S. policy on Cuba will strengthen and legitimize the dictatorship and is undercutting Cuban democracies”, he said.
Democratic Senator Amy Klobuchar said 50 years of the embargo have not secured U.S. interests in Cuba, but have disadvantaged American businesses by restricting commerce with a market of 11 million people just 144 kilometers from U.S. shores.
In remarks Friday to the Foreign Policy Initiative, Rubio said Obama administration concessions to both Iran and Cuba endanger the United States. “The territory where torture occurs and people are held in legal limbo isn’t under Cuban jurisdiction”.
Kerry made declared that despite the historic opening, Washington has not set aside criticism of Communist-run Cuba’s human rights record.
Reopening the embassies is an important step toward normalizing relations and economic ties between the two countries after decades of Cold War hostilities. “It’ll include officials from the Cuban government, a range of U.S. government agencies, as well as members of Congress“, a senior State Department officialtold reporters on Wednesday.
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Rodiles says the United States should have asked for preconditions before re-establishing relations with Havana. However, dissidents were not invited to the flag-raising in deference to the Cuban government, which sees many of them as U.S.-sponsored mercenaries. “We do think this represents a great opportunity for Mobile”, said Christina Stimpson, Director of global Trade at the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce.
