U.S. and Cuba reopen embassies
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (C) stands with other dignitaries as members of the U.S. Marines raise the U.S. flag over the newly reopened embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015. Watched over by Kerry, U.S. Marines raised the American flag at the embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years on Friday, symbolically ushering in an era of renewed diplomatic relations between the two Cold War-era foes.
U.S.-Cuba relations
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Cuba's Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez hold a joint news conference in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015. Kerry declared a new era in relations as he celebrated restored diplomatic ties in Havana on Friday, but he also urged political change in Cuba, telling Cubans they should be free to choose their own leaders.
U.S.-Cuba relations
A man holds a U.S. flag while gathering with others on a sidewalk near the U.S. embassy (not pictured) in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (L) shakes hands with Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez prior to their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
U.S. Marines raise the U.S. flag while being watched over by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) at the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
People gather on a sidewalk near the U.S. embassy (not pictured) during a flag-raising ceremony at the embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
A boy wears socks in the colors of U.S. flag while walking near the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
A person waves two U.S. flags from a window of the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
People stand on a sidewalk near the U.S. embassy in Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry arrived in Cuba on Friday to raise the U.S. flag at the recently restored American Embassy in Havana, another symbolic step in improved relations between the two Cold War-era foes.
U.S.-Cuba relations
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry walks up the stairs as he boards his aircraft from Andrews Air Force Base for a flight to Havana, Cuba, August 14, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
The United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015, after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.
Here, Edwardo Clark, a Cuban-American, holds both American and Cuban flags as he celebrates outside the new Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C.
U.S.-Cuba relations
(R-L) U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs Roberta Jacobson, White House Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes, and Ambassador Jeffrey DeLaurentis attend the ceremony to raise the Cuban flag in front of the Cuban embassy for the first time in 54 years in Washington, D.C., signaling the start of a new post-Cold War era in U.S.-Cuba relations, July 20, 2015.
The embassy was closed in 1961 when U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower severed diplomatic ties with the island nation after Fidel Castro took power in a Communist revolution.
U.S.-Cuba relations
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, right of center, applauds with other dignitaries after raising the Cuban flag over their new embassy in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
Having severed diplomatic relations in 1961, The United States and Cuba had been represented in each other's capitals by limited service interests sections, since the 1970s.
U.S.-Cuba relations
A member of a Cuban honor guard salutes as Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez, center, prepares to raise the Cuban flag over their new embassy in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
Shortly after midnight, the Cuban Interests Section in Washington switched its Twitter account to say "embassy," one of a series of similar changes being made to the two country's social media accounts.
U.S.-Cuba relations
Demonstrators, supporters, critics and journalists crowd the sidewalk across the street from the Cuban Embassy as the Cuban flag is raised in front of the building for the first time in 54 years in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
Cuban Embassy employees watch as the Cuban flag is raised in front of the building for the first time in 54 years in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
American actor Danny Glover (L) poses for a photograph with a member of the Cuban military honor guard during the flag raising ceremony at the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
The last Cuban flag that was lowered from the Cuban Embassy in Washington, D.C. on January 3, 1961 when relations between the United States and Cuba were severed, hangs in their new embassy, July 20, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
Protesters in front of the Cuban embassy in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015. C
U.S.-Cuba relations
Workers at the U.S. State Department add the Cuban flag to the display of flags of other countries with which the U.S. has diplomatic relations inside the main entrance at C Street in Washington, D.C., July 20, 2015.
U.S.-Cuba relations
A Cuban flag flies among empty flag polls near the U.S. Interests Section building, behind, in Havana, Sunday, July 19, 2015. While no formal ceremony was planned July 20 for the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, it became a full-fledged embassy just after midnight as the Cold War foes formally enter a new era of engagement.