US And Cuba To Open Embassies

Via Yahoo News:



U.S. President Barack Obama affirmed to Cuban President Raul Castro their decision to restore diplomatic relations and said the former Cold War enemies could reopen embassies in each other’s capitals beginning July 20, the Caribbean country said on Wednesday. Cuba’s foreign ministry cited a letter, which Obama addressed to Castro, that it received from the senior U.S. diplomat in Havana. Following 18 months of secret negotiations brokered by Pope Francis and Canada, the two leaders announced separately but simultaneously in December that they planned to reopen embassies in each other’s capitals and normalize relations. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is expected at a flag-raising ceremony in Havana later this month, when the U.S. interests section will become a full embassy. Cuba’s mission in Washington will undergo a similar upgrade.