The United States and Cuba have quietly ushered in a new era of post-Cold War relations, formally restoring diplomatic relations after an agreement struck last year putting aside decades of hostility.
The diplomatic missions of each country became full embassies on Monday, after midnight local time.
Cuba Foreign Minister, Bruno Rodriguez, would preside around 10:30 a.m. over the raising of the Cuban flag for the first time in 54 years over a mansion that would serve as Havana’s embassy in Washington.
The hugely symbolic event would be followed by a meeting at the State Department between Secretary of State, John Kerry and Rodriguez, the first Cuban foreign minister on an official visit to Washington since the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
While the Cubans hold their ceremony, the U.S. Embassy in Havana would also reopen.
But no American flag would fly there until a visit by Kerry, expected next month.
“We wanted the secretary to be there to oversee these important events,” a State Department official said.
Starting Monday, the Cuban government would pull back some of the tight cordon of security that had surrounded America’s diplomatic mission in Havana and no longer record the names of Cubans entering the building, U.S. officials said.
The heads of the respective Interest Sections in Cuban and American would become charges d’affaires until ambassadors are named.
More than 500 people would attend the Cubans’ festivities in Washington, including members of Congress. No invitations went out to hardline anti-Castro lawmakers. The U.S. delegation would be headed by Assistant Secretary of State, Roberta Jacobson.
Kerry and Rodriguez last met in April at the Summit of the Americas in Panama, where Obama and Castro also held talks. Aides see the outreach to Cuba as a boost to Obama’s legacy.
The re-establishment of embassies, agreed to on July 1, opened a new chapter of engagement by easing government contacts heavily constrained since the United States broke off relations in 1961.
The normalisation process had been slowed by lingering disputes, including over human rights as well as Havana’s desire to keep a tight rein on its society and state-run economy.
