Havana, Washington to reopen embassies in July

Cuba

US CubaFILE – In this Jan. 19, 2015 file photo, a Cuban and American flag wave from the balcony of the Hotel Saratoga in Havana. President Barack Obama will announce July 1 that the U.S. and Cuba have reached an agreement to open embassies in Havana and Washington, a senior administration official said. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa, File)

The United States and Cuba have agreed to open embassies in their capital cities, a major step in restoring ties after more than 50 years of hostilities. The Cuban Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that Havana and Washington will resume operations of their embassies July 20.

President Barack Obama says the reopening of embassies in Havana and Washington is another demonstration that the U.S. doesn’t have to be imprisoned by the past. Obama is announcing the formal restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States. He’s calling it an “historic step.”

Obama says Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Havana over the summer to raise the American flag over the embassy. Cuban television broadcast President Obama’s statement on resuming diplomatic ties. The transmission happened live on state television with a translation into Spanish.

It is highly unusual for Cuban TV to carry a U.S. presidential speech, although Havana broadcasters also did so in December when the two countries announced a historic detente. Obama says the reopening of a full embassy in Havana means American diplomats will be able to engage directly with Cuban government officials, civil society leaders and ordinary Cubans. He’s referring to the freedom of movement for U.S. diplomats that had been a sticking point in negotiations to reopen the embassies.

Obama is also calling on Congress to lift the U.S. embargo on Cuba. He says lawmakers should listen to the Cuban people and the American people who oppose maintaining economic sanctions against the island nation.

The United States’ top diplomat in Havana has delivered a letter from the White House to Cuba about restoring embassies in the countries’ respective capitals.  U.S. Interests Section chief Jeffrey DeLaurentis arrived at the Cuban Foreign Ministry in Havana on Wednesday morning to hand-deliver the message. Photographers and video journalists were allowed to document the encounter, but neither he nor Cuban officials spoke publicly.
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STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT ON THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH CUBA


Obama urges Congress to remove sanctions on isolating Cuba
The Cuban Interests Section in Washington has represented Havana in the US for decades. Officially under Swiss care, it’s offered Cubans working here diplomatic protection and will soon return to its original status as a full embassy. This follows Wednesday’s historic announcement at the White House, where US President Barack Obama said the future should not be held hostage to the past. CCTV’s Roee Ruttenberg filed the story.


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The announcement of restoring diplomatic ties with the U.S. is making waves in both nations. For reaction from Cuba, CCTV’s Michael Voss is in Havana has the details.


Rose Garden 11:08 A.M. EDT

THE PRESIDENT: Good morning, everybody. Please have a seat.

More than 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, the United States closed its embassy in Havana. Today, I can announce that the United States has agreed to formally re-establish diplomatic relations with the Republic of Cuba, and re-open embassies in our respective countries. This is a historic step forward in our efforts to normalize relations with the Cuban government and people, and begin a new chapter with our neighbors in the Americas.

When the United States shuttered our embassy in 1961, I don’t think anyone expected that it would be more than half a century before it re-opened. After all, our nations are separated by only 90 miles, and there are deep bonds of family and friendship between our people. But there have been very real, profound differences between our governments, and sometimes we allow ourselves to be trapped by a certain way of doing things.

For the United States, that meant clinging to a policy that was not working. Instead of supporting democracy and opportunity for the Cuban people, our efforts to isolate Cuba despite good intentions increasingly had the opposite effect -– cementing the status quo and isolating the United States from our neighbors in this hemisphere. The progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past. When something isn’t working, we can -– and will –- change.

Last December, I announced that the United States and Cuba had decided to take steps to normalize our relationship. As part of that effort, President Raul Castro and I directed our teams to negotiate the re-establishment of embassies. Since then, our State Department has worked hard with their Cuban counterparts to achieve that goal. And later this summer, Secretary Kerry will travel to Havana formally to proudly raise the American flag over our embassy once more.

This is not merely symbolic. With this change, we will be able to substantially increase our contacts with the Cuban people. We’ll have more personnel at our embassy. And our diplomats will have the ability to engage more broadly across the island. That will include the Cuban government, civil society, and ordinary Cubans who are reaching for a better life.

On issues of common interest –- like counterterrorism, disaster response, and development -– we will find new ways to cooperate with Cuba. And I’ve been clear that we will also continue to have some very serious differences. That will include America’s enduring support for universal values, like freedom of speech and assembly, and the ability to access information. And we will not hesitate to speak out when we see actions that contradict those values.

However, I strongly believe that the best way for America to support our values is through engagement. That’s why we’ve already taken steps to allow for greater travel, people-to-people and commercial ties between the United States and Cuba. And we will continue to do so going forward.

Since December, we’ve already seen enormous enthusiasm for this new approach. Leaders across the Americas have expressed support for our change in policy; you heard that expressed by President Dilma Rousseff of Brazil yesterday. Public opinion surveys in both our countries show broad support for this engagement. One Cuban said, “I have prepared for this all my life.” Another said that that, “this is like a shot of oxygen.” One Cuban teacher put it simply: “We are neighbors. Now we can be friends.”

Here in the United States, we’ve seen that same enthusiasm. There are Americans who want to travel to Cuba and American businesses who want to invest in Cuba. American colleges and universities that want to partner with Cuba. Above all, Americans who want to get to know their neighbors to the south. And through that engagement, we can also help the Cuban people improve their own lives. One Cuban American looked forward to “reuniting families and opening lines of communications.” Another put it bluntly: “You can’t hold the future of Cuba hostage to what happened in the past.”

And that’s what this is about: a choice between the future and the past.

Americans and Cubans alike are ready to move forward. I believe it’s time for Congress to do the same. I’ve called on Congress to take steps to lift the embargo that prevents Americans from travelling or doing business in Cuba. We’ve already seen members from both parties begin that work. After all, why should Washington stand in the way of our own people?

Yes, there are those who want to turn back the clock and double down on a policy of isolation. But it’s long past time for us to realize that this approach doesn’t work. It hasn’t worked for 50 years. It shuts America out of Cuba’s future, and it only makes life worse for the Cuban people.

So I’d ask Congress to listen to the Cuban people. Listen to the American people. Listen to the words of a proud Cuban American, Carlos Gutierrez, who recently came out against the policy of the past, saying, “I wonder if the Cubans who have to stand in line for the most basic necessities for hours in the hot Havana sun feel that this approach is helpful to them.”

Of course, nobody expects Cuba to be transformed overnight. But I believe that American engagement — through our embassy, our businesses, and most of all, through our people — is the best way to advance our interests and support for democracy and human rights. Time and again, America has demonstrated that part of our leadership in the world is our capacity to change. It’s what inspires the world to reach for something better.

A year ago, it might have seemed impossible that the United States would once again be raising our flag, the stars and stripes, over an embassy in Havana. This is what change looks like.

In January of 1961, the year I was born, when President Eisenhower announced the termination of our relations with Cuba, he said: It is my hope and my conviction that it is “in the not-too-distant future it will be possible for the historic friendship between us once again to find its reflection in normal relations of every sort.” Well, it took a while, but I believe that time has come. And a better future lies ahead.

Thank you very much. And I want to thank some of my team who worked diligently to make this happen. They’re here. They don’t always get acknowledged. We’re really proud of them. Good work.


Hugo Cancio of Fuego Enterprises on Cuba-US relations
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Hugo Cancio of Fuego Enterprises on Cuba-US relations

For more on the impact of closer Cuba-US relations, CCTV's Phillip Yin spoke to Hugo Cancio, President and CEO of Fuego Enterprises.