After more than half a century of Cold War, the United States and Cuba are embarking on a path towards peace, beginning with the reopening of their respective embassies after 54 years.
The American flag will once again fly in Havana and the Cuban flag in Washington, as has not been seen since 1961. The American and Cuban embassies will reopen in their respective capitals, as announced in the landmark declaration made by US president Barack Obama and Cuban president Raul Castro last December.
It is a watershed moment in the history of relations between the two countries, following a turbulent past that includes episodes such as the Bay of Pigs in 1961 and the missile crisis in 1962. Two years of negotiations have led to the reopening of the embassies, along with an expansion and improvement of cooperation on issues such as drug trafficking and environmental protection.
On 20 July, Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez and around 500 others attended the flag-raising ceremony held at the Cuban embassy in Washington. Rodriguez also met US Secretary of State John Kerry, marking the first visit by a Cuban official to the country since Cuba's 1959 revolution. The official reopening ceremony of the American embassy in Havana, however, will have to wait until August, when Kerry is due to visit the Caribbean island.
The embassies were closed in 1961, but both countries opened the so-called Interests Sections (USINT) in the late 1970s, created to initiate an opening of diplomatic relations. Nevertheless, although the reopening of the embassies represents a historic moment and a symbol of cooperation, "the road to normalisation" is "long and complex", as President Castro stated in a televised message to citizens.
Obama, for his part, has eased restrictions on American businesses operating in Cuba and on US citizens wishing to visit the island. Despite this, the economic embargo that has severed all commercial relations between the two countries since 1962 remains partially in force.
The thorny task now facing the American president is to convince Congress to lift the embargo, despite opposition from Republicans and some Democrats. According to a spokesperson for the State Department, there are still "issues on which we do not all see eye to eye", such as human rights violations in Cuba and American fugitives who have fled to Havana.
Translated by Camilla Soldati