- Title: USA-CUBA/EMBASSY FLAG Cuban flag raised over embassy in Washington
- Date: 20th July 2015
- Summary: WASHINGTON DC, USA (JULY 20, 2015) (REUTERS) CLOSE VIEW OF FLAG RAISED
- Embargoed: 4th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA9WTIRZ7H1Q93RX5S02SRHPXUS
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Dozens of dignitaries attended the flag raising ceremony at the newly inaugurated Cuban Embassy in the U.S. capital Washington on Monday (July 20).
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez presided over the raising of the Cuban flag. The flag is raised for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that will again serve as Havana's embassy in Washington.
The ceremony kicked off in the midst of a beefed up media presence. An honor guard saluted as the Cuban flag was once again raised over a building that was the Cuban representative office and has now become, since midnight on Monday (July 20), the official embassy of Cuba.
'Viva Cuba,' the crowd chanted as the flag was hoisted outside the embassy, before the Cuban national anthem sounded off with dignitaries and attendees joining in and singing.
Rodriguez is the first Cuban foreign Minister on an official visit to the United States since 1959. He will meet his U.S. counterpart, John Kerry shortly after the significant symbolic event.
Even before the Cubans held their ceremony, the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, long serving as Washington's de facto diplomatic post there, issued a statement announcing that on Monday it "officially became U.S. Embassy Havana."
But no American flag will fly there until a visit by Kerry expected next month, a State Department official said.
Differences remain and efforts toward full normalization between the United States and the Communist-ruled island are expected to proceed slowly. Monday's steps culminated more than two years of negotiations between governments that had long shunned each other.
The re-establishment of embassies, agreed to on July 1, opens a new chapter of engagement by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off relations in 1961.
A U.S. economic embargo against Cuba will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it, something that majority Republicans are unlikely to do anytime soon despite Obama's call for it to be rescinded. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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