U.S. Flag Raised Over American Embassy in Havana

U.S. flag was raised over the American embassy in Havana for the first time in 54 years. Secretary of State John Kerry presided over the ceremony.

Photo credit: The American flag raised over the United States embassy in Havana; 14 August 2015 (ABC)
 

U.S. & Cuba to Open Embassies

U.S. and Cuba will announce on Wednesday that they are normalizing ties after 54 years. Embassies in Havana and Washington will be reopened in late July. Secretary of Sate John Kerry will be in Havana to preside over opening of the U.S. embassy and the ceremonies to raise the U.S. flag. Note: I wish I could have been there on that day!

U.S. and Cuba Restore Full Diplomatic Relations

Opening of U.S. Embassy in Havana

The United States will restore full diplomatic relations with Cuba and open an embassy in Havana for the first time in more than fifty years. President Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in a telephone call on Tuesday night agreed to put aside decades of hostility to find a new relationship between the two nations. 

“We will end an outdated approach that for decades has failed to advance our interests and instead we will begin to normalize relations between our two countries,” said President Obama in a nationally televised statement today from the White House. The development “begins a new chapter among the nations of the America” and move beyond a “rigid policy that’s rooted in the events before most of us were born.” (The New York Times, 17 December)

Photo credit: President Obama speaking on new U.S.-Cuba relations from the White House; 17 December 2014 (Doug Mills/The New York Times)