Decades Later, US-Cuba Diplomatic Ties Restored

Workers were expected to hang the Cuban flag in the State Department lobby on Monday alongside other nations with which the USA has diplomatic relations.

APA reports quoting BBC that just after midnight on Monday, the diplomatic missions of each country became full embassies.

Despite the historic shift, both sides admit to lingering difficulties.

Starting Monday, USA officials said, the Cuban government will pull back some of the tight cordon of security that had surrounded America’s diplomatic mission in Havana and no longer record the names of Cubans entering the building.

On Monday, a group of Cuban-American members of the House of Representatives are scheduled to hold a news conference in Miami objecting to the changed relationship.

Overall, Americans are torn as to what the impact will be when the USA resumes diplomatic relations with Cuba. The State Department says it will operate under the leadership of Charge d’Affairs Jeffrey Delaurentis.

This resumption of diplomatic ties means an end to political sanctions which the country had lived under for a decade.

Indeed, yesterday, Senator Marco Rubio, a Republican who is now campaigning for the United States presidency and a son of Cuban immigrants, was caustic in his criticism of the new Cuba policy. He said earlier this year, “Their view of human rights isn’t just different than ours, they are flat-out wrong and immoral in their views”.

Swiss diplomats took over the maintenance of the seaside former U.S. Embassy and the sprawling ambassador’s residence in Havana.

The US Embassy in Havana also reopened at the same time, but an American flag will not be flown until Mr Kerry visits in August.

A workman at the US Department of State adds the Cuban flag between Croatia and Cyprus ones at to the display of flags inside the main entrance at 202 “C” Street at 4am local time (0800 GMT) in Washington, DC on July 20, 2015.

The official said a tangible result of the changes is that more Americans would be able to travel to Cuba, and would do so with the support of the US embassy. However, the designation had been a major sore point for Havana.

Obama had called on Congress in January to lift the embargo, but there has been no indication that Congress will soon debate the issue.

The rapprochement was announced on December 17, as Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro agreed to end their countries’ estrangement and put them on track towards a full normalizations of ties.

Cubans are hoping the new era will give their country an economic boost.

“This recognition somehow sends a message to dissidents and others around the world that the United States accepts the Cuban form of government today as a legitimate form of government”, he told CNN’s “State of the Union”.