US Secretary of State John Kerry addressing a press conference at the National Hotel in Havana yesterday

Reuters
Havana


US Secretary of State John Kerry declared a new era in relations as he celebrated restored diplomatic ties in Havana yesterday, but he also urged political change in Cuba, telling Cubans they should be free to choose their own leaders.
The first US secretary of state to visit the Caribbean island in 70 years, Kerry presided over a ceremony raising the US flag over the newly-reopened American embassy.
His comments drew a firm riposte from Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, who defended his Communist government at a joint news conference and criticised  Washington’s own record on rights. “We have profound differences on national security, human rights and political models,” Rodriguez said.
The two countries were locked for decades in hostilities that outlived the Cold War. Yesterday, both sides made clear the rapprochement would be slow and incremental, with less challenging issues being tackled first. Rodriguez stressed there must be no US interference in Cuba’s affairs.
The sunlit ceremony at the embassy overlooking the Malecon, the broad esplanade along Havana’s seafront, was a symbolic step in a path that opened last December when President Barack Obama and President Raul Castro announced they would seek to restore diplomatic ties, reopen embassies and work to normalise ties.
Speaking at a podium outside the embassy before US Marines raised the American flag there for the first time in 54 years, Kerry made plain that despite the historic opening, Washington would continue to push for democratic reform.
“We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders,” he said.
“We will continue to urge the Cuban government to fulfill its obligations under UN and Inter-American human rights covenants - obligations shared by the US and every other country in the Americas,” Kerry said.
His words were translated precisely into Spanish and broadcast live on Cuban state television.
At their news conference later, Rodriguez said Havana also had concern about human rights in the US. “Cuba is not a place where there are acts of racial discrimination or police brutality that result in deaths; nor is it under Cuban jurisdiction the territory where people are tortured or held in a legal limbo,” he said.