The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations Monday after more than half a century of estrangement, upgrading the diplomatic missions in each other’s capital from interest sections to embassies.
“In accordance with President Barack Obama’s announcement on July 1, effective today the United States and Cuba have re-established diplomatic relations,” the U.S. Embassy in Havana said in a statement. “The U.S. Interests Section officially became U.S. Embassy Havana.”
The Cuban Embassy in Washington held a flag-raising ceremony to mark the restoration of relations. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry plans to travel to Cuba next month for a similar ceremony where he plans to raise the U.S. flag at the reopened embassy.
“This is yet another demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. We look forward to working collaboratively to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people after more than half a century of discord,” White House press secretary Josh Earnest said in a statement.
“We look forward to collaborating with the Cuban government on issues of common interest, including counterterrorism and disaster response. And we are confident that the best way to advance universal values like freedom of speech and assembly is through more engagement with the Cuban people,” it said.
The United States cut off diplomatic relations with Cuba in 1961 after Fidel Castro took power in a coup in 1959. The U.S. also imposed a trade embargo in 1960 and put the country on the list of terror sponsors in 1982 for supporting armed groups in Latin America.
But after a year and a half of secret talks, the two countries announced in December they agreed to restore relations. Since then, the U.S. has lifted a series of restrictions on Cuba, including removing Cuba from its list of states sponsoring terrorism in late May. (Yonhap)
