The U.S. flag was raised above the American Embassy in Havana on Friday for the first time since 1961.
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“Change” is a word heard a lot, especially when it comes to opening up commerce between the U.S. and Cuba – mostly, some say, to help give Cubans access to more basic goods.
The US and Cuba officially restored their diplomatic ties last month with reopening of the Cuban Embassy in Washington. Roque tells us, “If somebody had told me this two years ago, I’d say, ‘No, it’s impossible.’ And today it’s a great day for both countries in my opinion”.
HARI SREENIVASAN: Cuban dissidents were allowed to attend a flag-raising at the home of the U.S. chief of mission.
“There are people going to Havana for this event who have not been to Cuba before and that includes some Cuban-Americans, and that has to be incredibly emotional”, the official said during a briefing Wednesday. He said the fact that Cuban dissidents were not invited to the flag-raising ceremony shows “just how backward this policy shift has turned out to be”.
In addition, U.S. diplomats are able to travel freely on the island without seeking prior permission from Cuban authorities although they must inform them where they are going, as is true in other countries that place restrictions on U.S. diplomats, the official said.
US Marines raise the US flag over the newly reopened embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
If elected president, Rubio pledged to offer the Castro regime an ultimatum: either “carry out meaningful political and human rights reforms” or watch the diplomatic changes seen during the Obama administration be undone. “The truth is the Cuban people are suffering because they live in a tyrannical dictatorship”.
The expert warned, however, that Cubans may face tensions as the country opens a new chapter in its relations with the United States.
In December, President Obama announced that the “U.S. was ending an “outdated approach” of isolating Cuba”.
“The big impact on the lives of Cubans is the embargo and to the extent that the United States and Cuba can now work towards ending that embargo ultimately will benefit them”.
SEN. MARCO RUBIO, Republican Presidential Candidate: Cuban dissidents have fought for decades for the very democratic principles President Obama claims to be advancing through these concessions.
Three classic American cars like those that still ply the streets of Havana were parked on the street behind the podium where Kerry spoke: a 1955 and a 1957 Chevrolet Bel Air and a 1959 Chevrolet Impala, from the year of the revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.
Miller was ecstatic to see her brother on TV in Cuba, making his second debut in worldwide history.
“Cuba is owed compensation equivalent to damages, which total numerous millions of dollars, as our country has stated with irrefutable arguments and information throughout all our speeches at the United Nations”, Castro was quoted as saying, in a reference to Cuba’s economic hardship under the long- running U.S. embargo.
Kerry said in a series of interviews with Spanish-language press Wednesday that the day would move the U.S.-Cuban relationship into a series of detailed talks about topics including “law enforcement, maritime security, education, health, telecommunications”.
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“More democracy, elections, we hope for that to come with this diplomatic opening”, said Julio Garcia, a mechanic.
