Embassies reopen in Washington and Havana after 54 years

The Cuban flag was raised at the US State Department on Monday in a historic gesture to mark renewed diplomatic ties between Havana and Washington as embassies were re-established in their respective capitals.

Diplomatic relations officially resumed at the stroke of midnight, and the Cuban banner was hoisted a few hours later, in a move toward burying decades of enmity between the Cold War foes seeking to normalize relations.

A foreign policy legacy for US President Barack Obama, the historic turnaround between two bitter adversaries has come about in just a matter of months since the countries agreed to bury the hatchet and work together as equals.

The shift came after Washington acknowledged that its policy of trying to affect change in tightly controlled communist Cuba through isolation and trade restrictions had failed, and that engaging Havana directly was a better way to nudge it toward democracy and prosperity.

Without ceremony in the pre-dawn hours, maintenance workers hung the Cuban flag in the lobby of the State Department alongside those of other nations with which the US has diplomatic relations.

Planned activities for the historic shift later on Monday included the inauguration of Cuba's embassy in Washington, US Secretary of State John Kerry meeting with his Cuban counterpart, Bruno Rodriguez, and the two addressing reporters at a joint news conference.

The US Interests Section in Havana plans to announce its upgrade to embassy status in a written statement on Monday, but the US flag will not fly at the mission until Kerry visits in August for a ceremonial flag-raising.

Monday's events cap a remarkable change of course in US policy toward the communist island under Obama, who had sought rapprochement with Cuba since he first took office and has progressively loosened restrictions on travel and remittances to the island.

The rapprochement was announced on Dec 17, as Obama and his Cuban counterpart Raul Castro agreed to end their countries' estrangement and put them on track toward a full normalization of ties.

After a series of negotiations in Havana and Washington, on July 1, the US and Cuba exchanged diplomatic notes agreeing that the date for the restoration of full relations would be July 20.

"It's a historic moment," said longtime Cuban diplomat and analyst Carlos Alzugaray.

"The significance of opening the embassies is that trust and respect that you can see, both sides treating the other with trust and respect," he said. "That doesn't mean there aren't going to be conflicts - there are bound to be conflicts - but the way that you treat the conflict has completely changed."

AFP - AP