Kerry in Havana Praises Escape From a History That Lingers
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Even as John Kerry, the first U.S. secretary of state to visit Cuba since 1945, celebrated the two nations’ decision “to stop being the prisoners of history,” reminders of their still-fraught relations kept surfacing.
Kerry oversaw an event rich in optimism on Friday, as the American flag was raised over the U.S. embassy in Havana, a place the Cuban government long denounced as a “nest of spies.” The Star-Spangled Banner played before an invited audience of Cuban guests and supportive American lawmakers. Thousands of Cubans watched from nearby streets and apartment buildings, and one man waved a homemade American flag.