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Cuban embassy opens in Washington but important issues remain unresolved Cuban embassy opens in Washington but important issues remain unresolved
(about 3 hours later)
The blue, red and white-starred flag of Cuba has been raised above the country’s embassy in Washington as diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba were formally restored. Cuba’s blue, red and white-starred flag has been raised above the country’s newly inaugurated embassy in Washington, heralding the formal restoration of diplomatic relations between the US and Cuba .
The flag-raising ceremony on Monday marked the symbolic end of more than a half century of cold war enmity between the US and the communist country – and a foreign policy achievement for President Barack Obama, who had long sought a rapprochement with the communist island. The establishment of embassies in both Washington and Havana, for the first time in 54 years, marked the symbolic end to one of the last vestiges of the cold war. After more than half a century of diplomatic animosity, the world’s capitalist superpower is once again on formal speaking terms with the small, communist state to the south.
Related: Spies, artificial insemination and the pope: how Cuba came in from the cold Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, flew to Washington to preside over the flag-raising ceremony on Monday and met with his US counterpart, John Kerry. It was the first time a Cuban foreign minister was hosted by a secretary of state in Washington since 1958.
Obama was born in the same year – 1961 – that diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US were severed by President Dwight Eisenhower in the wake of the popular uprising led by Fidel Castro. Appearing side by side at a State Department press conference, both diplomats expressed hope that a reset between the US and Cuba would lead to significant improvements in relations between the two countries.
The ceremony, presided over by Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodríguez on his first ever visit of the US capital, had all the bustle of downtown Havana. Some changes are already afoot, after travel restrictions and limits on remittances to Cuba were eased. In May, President Barack Obama removed Cuba from Washington’s list of state sponsors of terrorism.
In searing heat, hundreds of onlookers blocked the road, shouting “Viva Cuba Socialista” and “Cuba Libre” when three soldiers, dressed in white uniforms, hoisted the flag in front of the mansion that previous served as the country’s interests section.
Cuban diplomats punched the air as they sung the country’s national anthem.
Inside, VIP guests were treated to mojito cocktails and, in a gesture of goodwill, the Cubans performed an unlikely rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
In a speech that made clear that significant differences remain between the two countries, Rodríguez cited Cuban independence leader Jose Martí, who he noted had paid tribute to America’s values but also warned of its “excess craving for domination”.
He praised the “wise leadership of Fidel Castro”; condemned Guantánamo Bay, the US naval base on the island used to incarcerate terror suspects without due process; and called on the immediate end to the US trade embargo on Cuba.
“The historic events we are living today will only make sense with the removal of the economic, commercial and financial blockade, which causes so much deprivation and damage to our people; the return of occupied territory in Guantánamo; and respect for the sovereignty of Cuba,” Rodríguez said.
The US diplomatic mission also began functioning as an embassy on Monday, although with considerably less fanfare. It will not be officially inaugurated until 14 August, when John Kerry becomes the first US secretary of state of state to visit the Caribbean island in more than 70 years.
However officials at the mission now have diplomatic status and, in an agreement reached in just the past few weeks, will be given the access to ordinary Cuban citizens that Washington had demanded.
Related: US-based TV and radio news for Cubans remains obstacle as relations improveRelated: US-based TV and radio news for Cubans remains obstacle as relations improve
For both countries, the change involved some quiet digital upgrade for the interests sections, which have for decades been functioning as diplomatic outposts supervised by neutral Switzerland. Shortly after midnight, a diplomat at the Cuban embassy in Washington changed the profile on the outpost’s Twitter account to reflect that it was now an “embassy”. But Kerry and Rodríguez both acknowledged that the rapprochement falls short of full diplomatic normalisation, and spoke at length about the hurdles that still divide both sides.
Around the same time in Havana, the US interests section uploaded a new profile picture to its Facebook account for the same shift. Conrad Tribble, the deputy chief of mission for the US in Havana, tweeted: “Just made first phone call to State Dept Ops Center from United States Embassy Havana ever. It didn’t exist in Jan 1961.” “This milestone does not signify an end to the many differences that still separate our governments,” Kerry said. “But it does reflect the reality that the cold war ended long ago and that the interests of both countries are better served by engagement than by estrangement.” He added: “Nothing is more futile than trying to live in the past.”
The brand new US Embassy in #Cuba has its own new #Twitter handle - check out @USEmbCuba. cc @wexler & @KatieS Rodríguez was more forceful in his remarks, stating that future progress would be contingent upon the end of the long-running trade embargo that has for decades suffocated the Cuban economy and the return of Guantánamo Bay, the US naval facility used to detain terror suspects on the Caribbean island.
At 4 am, a more traditional change was underway, as maintenance workers quietly suspended the Cuban flag in the lobby of the State Department headquarters in Foggy Bottom. “I emphasised that the total lifting of the blockade, the return of the illegally occupied territory of Guantánamo, as well as full respect for Cuban sovereignty and compensation to our people for human and economic damages, are crucial to be able to move toward the normalisation of relations,” Rodríguez said of his meeting with Kerry.
The agreement to end decades of hostility was announced in December, after years of secret talks between the US and Cuba, some of which took place in Canada. Those negotiations, which occurred with the support of Pope Francis, resulted in a crucial prisoner swap that paved the way to both countries restoring relations for the first time in 54 years. Obama has called for an end to the trade embargo and also wants to close Guantánamo Bay’s detention facility, but the White House’s ability to implement change in either area is limited. Both require the backing of the US Congress, which is controlled by Republicans opposed to the thaw in relations with Cuba.
Rules for travel to and from Cuba have been relaxed slightly, along with some caps on remittances to Cuba. In May, Obama removed Cuba from Washington’s list of states that sponsor terrorism, while Havana has in return agreed to give US diplomats greater access to its citizens. Kerry spoke in general terms about Washington’s concerns over human rights in Cuba, but his remarks, occasionally delivered in Spanish, were more conciliatory than Rodríguez’s. Kerry said Obama “could not have been more clear” about his desire to see the end of the embargo, and suggested that goal would be achieved in the years ahead.
But major differences between the two countries remain, not least the trade embargo that has suffocated the Cuban economy by blocking American companies from doing business with the island. The embargo can only be lifted with the support of the US Congress, which is currently controlled by Republicans opposed to the thaw in relations. The secretary was less clear about the future of Guantánamo Bay. “There is no discussion or intention on our part, at this moment, to alter the existing lease treaty or other arrangements with respect to the naval station,” he said. “We understand Cuba has strong feelings about it.”
The embargo – or blockade, as Havana calls it – was discussed when Rodríguez later met with Kerry for a historic meeting at the State Department. Washington, for its part, is pushing for a major improvement in democratic standards in Cuba. The strength of Cuban passions was on display earlier in the day, during the opening ceremony for the Cuban embassy, which had all the bustle of a gathering in downtown Havana. Dozens of people, including journalists, lawmakers and diplomats, were locked outside the gates in searing heat amid large crowds.
A hint of some of these restrictions was on display at the gates of the embassy on Monday, when a Guardian reporter on the list of invited VIPs was turned away because of what security officials said was a technical problem with their invite. Inside, guests sipped cocktails while their Cuban hosts played an unexpected rendition of the Star Spangled Banner.
“You’re a journalist, stand there and listen to the Cuban minister speaking,” said one functionary, Miguel Fragas, pointing to speakers relaying an address to the crowd. The flag was raised shortly after 10.30am by three Cuban soldiers dressed in white dress uniforms. There were shouts of “Viva Cuba socialista!” and, in a denunciation of the embargo – commonly referred to as a blockade in Havana – chants of “Cuba sí – bloqueo no.”
Associated Press contributed to this report The Cuban embassy is housed in the same 98-year-old mansion that served as the country’s diplomatic mission before relations were severed in 1961. The building has, since 1971, been Cuba’s interests section, a diplomatic outpost run as an annex of Switzerland’s traditionally neutral embassy.
The US also operated an interests section in Havana, supervised by the Swiss, which was upgraded to full embassy status on Monday, although the change occurred with much less fanfare.
There were was no visible evidence of the change in status at the six-storey building in Havana, with diplomatic Facebook and Twitter pages offering the only clue as to the shift in identity.
Conrad Tribble, the deputy chief of mission for the US in Havana, tweeted: “Just made first phone call to State Dept Ops Center from United States Embassy Havana ever. It didn’t exist in Jan 1961.”
Just made first phone call to State Dept. Ops Center from United States Embassy Havana ever. It didn't exist in Jan 1961.
The US embassy will be officially inaugurated with a similar ceremony in August, when Kerry travels to Cuba – the first US secretary of state to visit the Caribbean island in more than 70 years.
The visit will complete a major foreign policy achievement for Obama, who made dialogue with America’s adversaries such as Cuba and Iran a campaign pledge during his first election in 2008,
The president was born on the same year – 1961 – that diplomatic relations between Cuba and the US were severed by then president Dwight Eisenhower in the wake of Fidel Castro’s revolutionary insurrection.
Related: Spies, artificial insemination and the pope: how Cuba came in from the cold
Obama has long pushed for the rapprochement with the Caribbean island and was the driving force behind months of secret talks with Havana that, with the support of Pope Francis, paved the way for the resumption of diplomatic relations.