Kerry officially reopens US embassy in Havana

The U.S. flag waves outside the newly opened U.S. Embassy, near a Cuban flag overlooking Havana’s seaside boulevard, the Malecon, in Cuba, Friday, August 14, 2015.

Julio Garcia is a 51-year-old mechanic.

Julio Garcia is a 51-year-old mechanic.

That’s when the US had cut diplomatic ties with Cuba.

The United States flag was presented by the same US marines who brought it down in 1961. The three men took down the flag, completed some other duties, and were on a boat sailing away from Cuba within hours.

Farther south, Latin America seems to be even more pleased than the U.S. with the Cold War enemies’ newfound ties.

Kerry is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit Cuba since the Franklin Roosevelt administration.

But he also argued that “Cuba’s future is for Cubans to shape”, adding that the responsibility “rests, as it should, not with any outside entity, but exclusively with the citizens of this country“.

Some members of Congress traveled to Havana with Kerry and said they were proud to be on hand to witness the event, such as Democratic Representatives Barbara Lee, Karen Bass and Jim McGovern.

The United States and Cuba formally renewed diplomatic relations and upgraded their diplomatic missions to embassies nearly four weeks ago. Speaking from Havana, Leahy said he strongly disagrees with this analysis.

Many Cubans disagree with that assessment, including Afro-Cubans who say discrimination is still rampant despite the revolution’s egalitarian ideals, and human rights groups who say regular, short-term arrests of government opponents aim to intimidate dissent and include beatings. Flags from 90 countries line the Ben Franklin Parkway, but Cuba isn’t one of them… yet.

“I believe the people of Cuba deserve what everyone else in the Western Hemisphere has, democracy”, said Florida Sen.

The state television network informs viewers that Kerry “is a Roman Catholic, likes bicycling, surfing and windsurfing” and is a fan of the Beatles and Rolling Stones.

Kerry mentioned during the ceremony that the opening of the US embassy in Cuba is a “historic moment”. Relations with the United States were broken in 1961 as Castro led Cuba rapidly into a socialist model allied with the Soviet Union.

In last December’s agreement, Obama and Raul Castro announced they would restore diplomatic ties, reopen embassies and work to normalize relations.

Among those gathering in front of the U.S. Embassy in Havana are the drivers of three 1950s-era Chevrolets that are parked outside the building. He said the State Department had invited him to send them without saying why.

The U.S. embassy in Havana has been reopened after over 54 years.

“We are not going to make a decision to try to please or respond to people who don’t want our well-being”, Vidal said in an interview.