The US initiated the trade embargo against Cuba in the 1960’s following the deterioration of the relationship between the two countries.
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Smartly, the Obama administration has decided that as this transformation arrives on Cuba’s shore, the U.S.is better positioned as a neighbor than enemy.
“We will continue to urge the Cuban government to fulfil its obligations under UN and Inter-American human rights covenants – obligations shared by the United States and every other country in the Americas”, Kerry said.
His words were translated precisely into Spanish and broadcast live on Cuban state television. The United States top diplomat arrived in Havana at 9:00 a.m. on board a State Department plane.
Jorge said opportunities in Cuba will never be what they are in America until a new government takes over.
Cuban leader Fidel Castro said, in an open letter released on Thursday, the US owed millions of dollars to Cuba as a result of the 53-year-long embargo.
Three retired marines who lowered the American flag for the last time on January 4, 1961, handed it over to marines to raise it once again in Havana as the American national anthem played.
Cubans have reacted to the restoration of the U.S.-Cuban ties with a mixture of excitement and skepticism.
More than a half century later, the United States and Cuba are re-establishing diplomatic ties.
Putting a symbolic capstone on the United States’ historic rapprochement with Cuba, Kerry gave the cue to hoist the Stars and Stripes over the glass-and-concrete building on the Havana waterfront.
“Not from the U.S. government but U.S. companies, tourists, people who used to invest money in Cuba for the benefit of the people”.
Cuba fiercely rejects such conditions and it declined to attend a U.S. reception where the dissidents were present.
It’s been 54 years since the United States has had a formal presence in Havana. “Lifting of the blockade is essential to be able to have normal relations”, Rodriguez said on Friday. Human rights activists have criticized the decision.
President Barack Obama announced in December that the U.S. would end an “outdated approach” of economically and diplomatically isolating Cuba.
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However, Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s Lead Negotiator with the US, says the lift of the embargo, if and when it happens, will only be the first step of the long process of restoring economic relations. Fidel Castro has ceded leadership to his brother Raul, who has promised to relinquish the presidency in 2018. Although now formally embassies, the former interests sections in Washington and Havana still await the appointment of ambassadors.
