The United States and Cuba formally agreed on July 1 to restore diplomatic relations on July 20, setting up a trip to Havana by John Kerry, who would become the first US secretary of state to visit the country in 70 years.
Sealed by an exchange of letters between US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro, the deal fulfills a pledge the former Cold War enemies made six months ago. It also attempts to end the recriminations that have predominated ever since Fidel Castro's rebels overthrew the US-backed government of Fulgencio Batista on Jan. 1, 1959.
The letters set a date of July 20 for the re-establishment of relations, and embassies could be opened at that time or later.
Kerry, speaking from Vienna, said he would visit Havana to raise the US flag outside the future US embassy, currently labeled an interests section.
"The progress that we mark today is yet another demonstration that we don’t have to be imprisoned by the past," Obama said from the White House Rose Garden. "When something isn’t working, we can - and will - change."
Isolating Cuba had been a foreign policy pillar under 10 US presidents, continuing long after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
"It hasn’t worked for 50 years. It shuts America out of Cuba’s future, and it only makes life worse for the Cuban people," Obama said while noting stark differences between the two governments would remain.
With diplomatic relations restored, the United States and Cuba will turn to more difficult bilateral problems likely to take years to resolve.
