American flag raised in Cuba

“We have decided today to establish a bilateral commission to address issues that must urgently be addressed, including those that remained without a solution for over 50 years”, said Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez at the press conference held at the National Hotel of Havana.

For more information, see the State Department website here and here. Kerry, who is scheduled to return to Washington on Friday night, has planned an “open, free” walk in Old Havana during his stay to get an impression of everyday life in Cuba.

“Cuba’s future is for Cubans to shape”, he added.

“We will continue to urge the Cuban government to fulfill its obligations under UN and Inter-American human rights covenants – obligations shared by the United States and every other country in the Americas”, Kerry said. Cuban political dissidents were not invited to attend the ceremony out of apparent deference to the Cuban government, and though Kerry met with some of those dissidents later in the day, the decision was attacked by some.

Fidel Castro marked his 89th birthday with a newspaper column Thursday repeating assertions that the U.S. owes socialist Cuba “numerous millions of dollars” for damages caused by its decades-long embargo.

Kerry is the first secretary of state to visit Cuba since 1945.

“Opening the door to an embassy in Cuba will not open the door to democracy for the Cuban people”, Boehner stated on Friday.

But Kerry insisted the breakdown in ties and the US trade embargo on the island had failed to force Cuba to reform – and that a new path must be sought.

President Barack Obama also called for change in Cuba when he announced the new U.S. policy of engagement in December, but his words were less pointed than Kerry’s on Friday. “In some ways all of my body of work has circled around this idea of cultural identity and negotiation of this sense of home”, said Blanco, the son of Cuban exiles who came to the U.S.in 1968 from Spain.

Secretary of State John Kerry – the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the island since World War II – presided over the ceremony, and those in the crowd enthusiastically waved their own American flags.

Senator Patrick Leahy says the reopening of a U.S. Embassy in Cuba is a very positive step that should lead to stronger relations between Havana and Washington.

President Dwight Eisenhower severed diplomatic ties with Havana as relations soured soon after the 1959 Cuban Revolution.

“There is no way congress is going to vote to lift the embargo if they’re not moving with respect to issues of conscience”, Kerry said.

Kerry said he would meet with dissidents during a reception at the chief of mission’s residence following the embassy ceremony, after it was demanded he explain how normalized relations will improve human rights standards. The second will tackle more complex topics like the establishment of direct airline flights and U.S. telecommunications deals with Cuba.