CUBA-USA/PREPS Last-minute preparations are underway days before U.S. to raise flag over embassy in Havana

Record ID: 143698

  • Title: CUBA-USA/PREPS Last-minute preparations are underway days before U.S. to raise flag over embassy in Havana
  • Date: 11th August 2015
  • Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (AUGUST 11, 2015) (REUTERS - NONE) VARIOUS OF U.S. EMBASSY VARIOUS OF MEN WORKING ON EXTERIOR GROUNDS OF U.S. EMBASSY VARIOUS OF MEN CLEANING THE WORD ON PLAQUE "VENCEREMOS" (WE WILL BE VICTORIOUS) IN FRONT OF EMBASSY CUBAN FLAG VARIOUS OF MEN ROAD IN FRONT OF EMBASSY MACHINERY ON ROAD VARIOUS OF PEOPLE QUEUING TO ENTER U.S. EMBASSY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) RESID
  • Embargoed: 26th August 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cuba
  • Country: Cuba
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVADPIKLSTFM2A8AG054P5UGI9O8
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Final preparations on Tuesday (August 11) were underway as Washington's embassy prepares to raise its flag over the former Interests Section building in Havana for the first time in 54 years. The measure is an important symbolic gesture of the restoration of ties between the United States and Cuba, opening a new chapter of engagement between the former Cold War foes.
    On Friday (August 14), U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Cuba for the embassy's inauguration in which U.S. officials will ceremoniously hoist the Stars and Stripes over the premises.
    Workers could be seen making exterior repairs and cleaning a plaque that read: "Venceremos" (We will Overcome).
    The Cuban flag waved close-by as another group of workers repaired the road in front of the U.S. Embassy.
    In Havana, people queued outside the embassy which was reopened for business in July but with little fanfare.
    Local resident Cristina Perez said she hoped for a bright future for both countries.
    "As a Cuban, I hope the inauguration of the U.S. Embassy in Cuba will improve things for both countries. I hope all is in favour for us, for the government, for both governments, for everything to be okay," said Perez.
    In July, the Cuban flag was raised over Havana's embassy in Washington, a milestone in the diplomatic thaw that began with an announcement by U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro on December 17.
    Cuba has urged Obama to use executive powers to circumvent the Republican Congress to dismantle the economic embargo, one of the main stumbling blocks to full normalization of ties. For its part, the Obama administration pressed Havana for improvement on human rights.
    But even with continuing friction, the reopening of embassies in each other's capitals has provided the most concrete symbols yet of what has been achieved after more than two years of negotiations between governments that had long shunned each other.
    Obama has modestly eased some business and travel restrictions but the broader 53-year-old embargo remains in place. Only Congress can lift it, something the majority Republicans are unlikely to do anytime soon despite the Democratic president's appeal for it to be rescinded.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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