US, Cuba restore full diplomatic ties after 5 decades

Cuba and the USA have formally restored diplomatic relations after an agreement struck previous year putting aside decades of hostility came into force.

The US and Cuba each now have a full-fledged embassy in the other’s country.

The Cuban government of President Raul Castro has reiterated that in order for there to be an actual normalization of relations between both countries, the US needs to urgently lift its illegal five-decade-old blockade against the Caribbean nation, and return Guantanamo Bay to Havana.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla was to travel to the Cuban Embassy in Washington to raise his country’s flag, an event that Cuban government officials said would be broadcast live on the island’s state-run TV.

But the flag raising will have to wait until Secretary of State John Kerry makes his trip to Cuba in August.

And yet, though normalization has taken center stage in the U.S.-Cuba relationship, there remains a deep ideological gulf between the nations and many issues still to resolve.

Republican presidential candidates have vowed not to repeal the embargo and have threatened to roll back Mr Obama’s promotion of closer ties between the two countries.

A foreign policy legacy for US President Barack Obama, the historic turnaround between two bitter foes has come about in just a matter of months.

Former US diplomat Vicki Huddleston remembered seeing Castro leading demonstrations just below her balcony at the mission. Fifty percent of Americans now approve of his handling of U.S.-Cuba relations, up from 44 percent at the end of previous year.

The Cuba flag is set to fly over the nation’s capital tomorrow for the first time in more than 50 years.

Cuba and the USA will reopen their respective embassies as a part of their current settlement to restore diplomatic ties.

Our hope is that, over time, both sides will be able to start seeing eye to eye on the issues that now divide them, and that there will not be a repeat of the episode that brought the world to the brink of nuclear war in October 1962.

“But the way that you treat the conflict has completely changed”, he added.

More than 500 people will attend the Cubans’ festivities in Washington, including members of Congress. No invitations went out to hardline anti-Castro lawmakers.

Tough negotiations eased one stumbling block, top U.S. diplomat for Latin America Roberta Jacobson said, after insisting that American diplomats be allowed to operate freely across Cuba.

Every day for the last week, employees have been hanging hand-lettered signs on the fence counting down, in Spanish, to Monday: “In 6 days we will become an embassy!” and so on.

A man sweeps a driveway in front of the Cuba Interests Section on July 19, 2015 in Washington, DC.