STATE DEPARTMENT—On Friday, U.S. Marines will hoist the American flag outside of the U.S. Embassy in Havana, marking the ceremonial re-opening of the diplomatic facility after the U.S. and Cuba agreed to restore ties that were severed over 50 years ago.

 Both the U.S. and Cuban embassies re-opened on July 20. The Cuban government hosted a lavish event for its re-opening last month, but the U.S. chose to hold off on its formal ceremony until Secretary of State John Kerry could lead a delegation to Havana.
 
The day-long ceremony in Havana will include a series of events with U.S. lawmakers and other government officials, Cuban government representatives and civil society members, said a senior State Department official.
 
“There are people going to Havana for this event who have not been to Cuba before and that includes some Cuban Americans and that has to be incredibly emotional,” the official said in a Wednesday briefing.
 
However, the State Department said there is no planned meeting between Kerry and Cuban President Raul Castro. 

Is human rights left behind?
 
The senior State Department official indicated that Cuban dissidents would not be part of the flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy.
 
“It is principally a government-to-government event,” the official said, “signifying this new relationship and the re-opening of the embassy.”
 
The official added there would be a second, larger ceremony, later in the day at the residence of Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the U.S. Chief of Missions. That ceremony will include a range of civil society members, including political, human rights and media activists.
 
A Cuban-American human rights advocate based in Washington said the U.S. move to normalize relations with Cuba may be a set-back for Cuban dissidents.
 
“It is a fairy tale to assume that just because the president [Obama] makes concessions to Raul Castro, then Raul Castro will behave and stop abusing the people of Cuba,” said Frank Calzon, head of the Center for a Free Cuba.
 
Citing the Cuban government’s continued arrests of anti-government protesters and dissidents, he said the Castro government had been “emboldened,” because it had yet to receive U.S. pressure to improve human rights.
 
However, the senior State Department official said the move to re-establish relations would allow the U.S. to continue and “hopefully accelerate” its engagement with Cuba on issues such as human rights and law enforcement.

Mixed reactions from US lawmakers

Some U.S. lawmakers have also questioned the Obama administration’s decision to move forward with engagement, in the wake of human rights concerns.
 
“We [the U.S.] are so hungry for this deal that we are willing to overlook a hundred peaceful dissidents arrested just a few hours before the opening of our embassy,” said Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Cuban American.
 
“It is a cruel insult to the freedom loving people of Cuba and it is a dangerous situation for U.S. national security,” she said, at Wednesday news conference in Miami.
 
Other lawmakers have expressed support, including, Senator Patrick Leahy.
 
“Finally, after 55 years a failed, punitive and ineffective policy of isolation is ending,” he said in a July statement, reacting to plans to re-open the U.S. embassy in Havana.
 
Little impact on average Cuban
 
The embassy reopening will allow more Americans to travel to Cuba and give Cubans increased access to the U.S. embassy in Havana.
 
But Cubans may not see much of an immediate difference in their day-to-lives.
 
“In the immediate short term, it won’t benefit the ordinary Cuban very much except to give them some hope,” said American University international relations professor Philip Brenner, who has traveled to Cuba more than 30 times.
 
He said Congress would need to lift the U.S. trade embargo on Cuba for them to see significant change.
 
“The big impact on the lives of Cubans is the embargo and to the extent that the United States and Cuba can now work towards ending that embargo ultimately will benefit them.”
 
Obama has expressed support for lifting the embargo, first imposed on Cuba in the 1960’s.

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  ceremony, cuba, embassies, flags, havana, john kerry, relations, u.s., united states