After 50-year stalemate, U.S. to set up embassy in Cuba

Both sides reach agreemen on re-establishing diplpmatic ties, after 50 years

In this Jan. 19, 2015 file photo, Cuban and American flags wave from the balcony of the Hotel Saratoga in Havana. President Barack Obama will announce July 1 that the U.S. and Cuba have reached an agreement to open embassies in Havana and Washington, a senior administration official said

The U.S. and Cuba are on Wednesday scheduled to announce the reopening of embassies in Washington and Havana for the first time in over 50 years.

“We will formally announce tomorrow [Wednesday] that the U.S. and Cuba have reached an agreement to re-establish formal diplomatic relations and open embassies in each other’s capitals,” a U.S. official said.

In Havana, the American embassy is likely to occupy the same building where the Interests Section currently operates, CNN quoted a White House official as saying.

That’s the same structure, situated on the Havana waterfront, which housed the American embassy prior to the severing of diplomatic ties after the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s.

“We expect President Barack Obama and Secretary John Kerry to address this publicly tomorrow morning,” the official added.

Final step

The re-establishing of embassies is a final step in the full diplomatic thaw Mr. Obama initiated in December.

Since then, the U.S. has eased some travel restrictions to Cuba and allowed for some new economic ties.

In April, Mr. Obama met with Cuban President Raul Castro during a summit meeting in Panama, the first time the leaders of Cuba and the U.S. had met in over 50 years.

The U.S. officially removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terror earlier in June.