Tag: bruno rodriguez
Cuban Flag Raised Over Washington Embassy As Ties Restored

Cuban Flag Raised Over Washington Embassy As Ties Restored

By Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Cuban flag was raised over Havana’s embassy in Washington on Monday for the first time in 54 years as the United States and Cuba formally restored relations, opening a new chapter of engagement between the former Cold War foes.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez presided over the reinauguration of the embassy, a milestone in the diplomatic thaw that began with a breakthrough announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on Dec. 17.

The U.S. Embassy in Havana was also officially reopened for business. But the Stars and Stripes will not be hoisted there until a visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry expected next month.

Without fanfare in the pre-dawn hours, maintenance workers also hung the Cuban flag in the lobby of the U.S. State Department, where it joined the banners of other countries with which the United States has diplomatic relations.

Serious differences remain between the United States and Communist-ruled Cuba, and efforts toward full normalization of ties are expected to proceed slowly for now. But the steps that officially took effect on Monday carried enormous symbolism after more than two years of initially secret negotiations between governments that had long shunned each other.

More than 500 people, including Obama administration officials, U.S. lawmakers and a large visiting Cuban delegation, attended the ceremony at the nearly century-old mansion that was being converted back into the Cuban Embassy.

The U.S. delegation was headed by Assistant Secretary of State Roberta Jacobson.

A three-man honor guard marched onto the front lawn where the Cuban flag was mounted on a newly installed pole while a band played the Cuban national anthem.

As the flag was slowly raised, there were competing chants from the crowd outside the gates. “Cuba si, embargo no!” Shouted one group. “Cuba si, Fidel no,” yelled a much smaller group.

In a further sign of a desire to move past decades of enmity, Kerry and Rodriguez, the first Cuban foreign minister on an official visit to Washington since the Cuban Revolution, were due to meet at the State Department and then hold a news conference later on Monday.

NO INVITATIONS TO ANTI-CASTRO LAWMAKERS

The crowd at the embassy reopening included members of Congress who have supported rapprochement. But no invitations went to hard-line anti-Castro lawmakers, such as Senators Marco Rubio and Bob Menendez, who have opposed Obama’s outreach and modest easing of restrictions on business and travel.

“You don’t invite into your home those who want to do you harm,” Gustavo Machin, deputy director for U.S. affairs in the Cuban Foreign Ministry, said in Havana last week.

The meeting between Kerry and Rodriguez will be their first since April during the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks.

The opening to Cuba marks not only a legacy achievement for Obama but also a major application of his presidential doctrine of negotiating with enemies, a concept that now faces an even tougher test with a nuclear deal reached with Iran last week.

The re-establishment of embassies could usher in a new era of engagement between the United States and Cuba by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961.

A full-service U.S. mission in Havana could offer some reassurance to companies interested in investing in Cuba and also help seed the way for more – although still heavily restricted – travel to the island by American citizens.

But both countries have made clear that restoration of ties, agreed on July 1, will be just a step in a long normalization process that is only inching along because of lingering disputes as well as Havana’s desire to keep a tight rein on Cuba’s society and its state-run economy.

Differences include the U.S. economic embargo, Cuba’s human rights record, outstanding legal claims against each country, American fugitives still sheltered in Cuba and Washington’s retention of its naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

The embargo will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it, something that majority Republicans are unlikely to do anytime soon.

Neither side has named an ambassador. The Obama administration has made clear it is in no rush, mindful that Republicans have vowed to block any nominee.

(Additional reporting by Dan Trotta in Havana, Editing by Doina Chiacu and Dan Grebler)

Photo: People gather outside the Cuban embassy after the Cuban flag was raised in a ceremony in Washington July 20, 2015. (REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst)

Kerry To Host Cuba Foreign Minister In Washington On Monday

Kerry To Host Cuba Foreign Minister In Washington On Monday

By David Storey and Matt Spetalnick

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — Secretary of State John Kerry will meet Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in Washington on Monday, U.S. officials said, to mark the historic restoration of diplomatic ties between former Cold War foes severed more than five decades ago.

Kerry will host Rodriguez at the State Department after the Cuban official leads the formal reopening of the Communist state’s embassy, a hugely symbolic step in the thaw between the countries initiated by President Barack Obama and Cuba’s President Raul Castro in December.

The Cuban flag will be raised over its mission in Washington for the first time in 54 years. While the U.S. embassy in Havana will also be automatically reopened, no American flag will fly there until Kerry visits to preside over a ceremony, U.S. officials said on Friday. He is expected to travel there in August.

Rodriguez, the first Cuban foreign minister to visit Washington since around the time of the Cuban Revolution, will have a substantive discussion with Kerry instead of “just a passing handshake,” State Department spokesman John Kirby said.

He said the agenda would cover areas of possible cooperation, such as global health and the Cuban people’s expanded “access to telecommunications,” as well as points of contention, including Cuba’s human rights record and U.S. fugitives sheltering on the island.

Re-establishment of ties, agreed on July 1 after several rounds of talks, will be the latest phase in a normalization process expected to move slowly because of lingering disputes as well Havana’s desire to keep a tight rein on Cuba’s society and its state-run economy.

A U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest said there was strong support in the Congress for normalization except for a vocal minority with “entrenched partisan interests” who have tried to obstruct moves.

He acknowledged there was little chance of swift congressional review of any Obama choice as ambassador to Cuba, especially after senior Republicans vowed to block it. While making clear that nothing was imminent, he did not rule out that Obama might put forth a nominee anyway.

As well as Monday’s ceremony upgrading the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, a Cuban flag will be hung in the lobby of the State Department, added to those of other countries with which Washington has relations, Kirby said.

Kerry and Rodriguez will meet later and hold a news conference. Washington and Havana’s top diplomats met in April during the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks.

John Foster Dulles and Gonzalo Guell were the last U.S. and Cuban foreign ministers to hold a formal meeting in Washington on Sept. 22, 1958, a U.S. official said. The United States broke off diplomatic relations in 1961.

Obama’s decision to restore full diplomatic ties followed decades of mutual antagonism after Fidel Castro and his revolutionaries seized control in 1959. He has already used executive powers to ease some trade and travel restrictions despite opposition from anti-Castro lawmakers.

(Additional reporting by Dan Trotta in Havana; Editing by Sandra Maler, Dan Grebler, Toni Reinhold)

Cuba’s Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla attends a European Union and the Community of Latin America and Caribbean states (EU-CELAC) foreign ministers’ meeting at the European Commission in Brussels June 9, 2015. (REUTERS/Emmanuel Dunand/Pool)