Kerry to Officially Reopen on Friday U.S. Embassy to Cuba

HAVANA, Cuba, Aug 14 (acn) Shortly before ten o'clock in the morning, Secretary of State John Kerry will officially reopen the U.S. embassy in this capital, as part of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations between both countries.
In the opening ceremony of the embassy, according to a note issued by the Department of State, Secretary Kerry will give the opening speech of the ceremony, charge d'affaires Jeffrey DeLaurentis will say the words of welcome, and the anthems of both nations will be heard.
It was known that the poet of the presidential inauguration, Richard Blanco, will recite verses entitled Cosas del Mar and that the music will be played by the brass quintet of the U.S. Army.
Kerry's visit to Havana is the first in seven decades of a US diplomat of his level, after Edward R. Stettinius was in Cuba in March, 1945, under the administration of U.S. President Harry S. Truman.
A total of 19 personalities make up the delegation, including Secretary of Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson; the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Commerce, Bruce Andrews; and Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, Sarah Bloom Raskin.
Heading the host delegation will be Josefina Vidal, general director of the U.S. office of the Cuban Foreign Ministry.
Cuba and the United States reach this moment with their sights set on a new cycle of talks, a stage of bilateral work expected to be a long way towards the normalization of relations.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and Secretary Kerry ratified in a joint press conference on 20 July in Washington the interest in continuing the dialogue, knowing in advance that it will be a complex process and will require the efforts of the two countries.
Kerry assured at the time the commitment that his government will do its part in the agreements achieved, which he described as a historic step in the right direction.
We want all citizens in the U.S. and Cuba to look at the future of relations with hope, because on July 20 we started to repair the damage done and opened a road closed for a long time, he confessed.
The reopening of embassies does not mean the end of the profound differences existing between Havana and Washington, however, the steps taken by the two governments in recent months suggest that the achievements -quite a few after five decades of breaking-off- shows that coexistence is possible with respect for and adherence to international conventions.
Secretary Kerry, who visited Cuba in 2000 as president of the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, has on his agenda a meeting with Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, and as happened in Washington last month, they will offer a joint press conference at the Hotel Nacional de Cuba, where they will tackle the progress of the bilateral agenda.