US-Cuba deal to restore ties to be unveiled on July 1
The United States and Cuba have reached an agreement to reopen embassies and restore diplomatic ties severed more than five decades ago, and the historic deal will be unveiled on July 1, US officials said on June 30.
Nearly six and a half months after US President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro sealed a diplomatic breakthrough, Obama will announce the new steps toward rapprochement in the White House Rose Garden on July 1.
Signaling it is likely to act in sync with the United States, Cuba's Communist government said the chief of the US mission, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, would meet the interim foreign minister in Havana on July 1 to deliver a note from Obama to Castro on the re-establishment of ties between the two former Cold War rivals.
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Both countries can now upgrade their so-called interests sections in Havana and Washington into full-blown embassies, with ambassadors to be appointed later. The State Department must give Congress a 15-day notice before opening an embassy.
"We will formally announce tomorrow that the United States and Cuba have reached an agreement to re-establish formal diplomatic relations and open embassies in each other’s capitals," a senior US official said.
Restoration of ties would be the latest phase in a normalization process that is expected to move slowly because of lingering problems over issues such as Cuba's human rights record, as well as Havana's desire to keep a tight rein on Cuba's society and its state-run economy.
A US economic embargo against Cuba will remain in place, and only Congress can lift it.
There were no immediate details on other outstanding differences between the countries, but July 1's announcement was a clear sign that major stumbling blocks had been removed.