- Title: CUBA-USA/EMBASSY-PREVIEW Cuba prepares for U.S. embassy to open after 50 years
- Date: 19th July 2015
- Summary: HAVANA, CUBA (JULY 19, 2015) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF U.S. INTERESTS SECTION IN HAVANA AUTHORITIES GUARDING INTERESTS SECTION VARIOUS OF FLAGPOLE AT U.S. INTERESTS SECTION SATELLITE TRUCKS PREPARING FOR TOMORROW'S OPENING OF U.S. INTERESTS SECTION (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ALBERTO MATOS, 59-YEAR-OLD PROFESSOR, SAYING: "For us, this is significant. It's important. I think it's a d
- Embargoed: 3rd August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Cuba
- Country: Cuba
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVA32GEM9U8KJ10AB128FRE6Z11A
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Preparations were underway in Havana on Sunday (July 19), the day before the historic re-opening of the U.S. embassy, the first major step as the former Cold War foes re-establish diplomatic ties.
On Monday (July 20), for the first time in 54 years, the two countries will have embassies on each other's soil. Until now, each had an interests section that handled consular matters.
While the Cuban flag will be raised over its mission in Washington, no American flag will fly at the U.S. embassy in Havana until U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visits to preside over a ceremony, U.S. officials said on Friday. He is expected to travel to Cuba in August.
Satellite trucks and tourists were gathering near the interests section in advance of the embassy opening.
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.
On the streets of Havana, Cubans were optimistic that this could be the first step toward full normalization of relations.
"For us, this is significant. It's important. I think it's a decisive step toward normalizing relations. In other words, as Cubans, we celebrate this and are waiting to see what could happen and what could continue from this point on which we are optimistic will be things that are feasible for the Cuban people and the people of the United States," said Alberto Matos, a Cuban professor.
Colombian tourist Francisco Ayola said Monday's step would benefit citizens from both countries.
"It's historic. It's historic because it will be good for Cubans, and good for the United States and Cuba also and they will have closer relations now for them to be better," he said.
President Barack 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.
The hugely symbolic step marks the thaw between the countries initiated by Obama and Cuba's President Raul Castro in December.
The Vatican, which got involved as early as March 2012, played a key role in the rapprochement, including facilitating talks, U.S. officials have said.
Pope Francis - who is from Argentina - sent separate personal letters to Obama and Castro, urging them to exchange captives and improve relations.
The months of talks that preceded Monday's historic events took place both in Canada and at the Vatican.
When the pope received the U.S. president in Vatican City in late March, the secret Cuba talks were a central topic of discussion.
Cuban Cardinal Jaime Ortega confirmed the pope's role, which he called "discrete."
"It's the role of our Holy Father; it's a very discreet role. I haven't had to do more than, I don't know, be here and have had that possibility of creating a climate of rapprochement but nothing more than that," Ortega said.
After the 1959 revolution, Cuba officially embraced communism and atheism, closed down religious schools, deported Catholic priests and discriminated against Catholics in government roles.
Gradually, and aided by the historic 1998 visit of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict in 2012, Cuba has given space for its citizens to practice Catholicism.
Pope Francis is due to visit Cuba in September, on his way to visit the United States.
In Washington, Kerry will meet Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez in Washington on Monday, U.S. officials said.
After the Cuban official leads the formal reopening of the Communist state's embassy in Washington, Kerry will host him at the State Department.
Rodriguez, the first Cuban foreign minister to visit Washington since around the time of the Cuban Revolution, will have a substantive discussion with Kerry that will be more than "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.
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.
Earnest 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. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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