Kerry calls for democracy in Cuba as U.S. flag raised

HAVANA — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for an end to "mutual isolation" and issued an impassioned plea for democracy in Cuba as the American flag was raised outside the recently reopened U.S. Embassy here Friday for the first time in 54 years.

"The time is now to reach out to one another as two peoples who are no longer enemies or rivals but neighbors," said Kerry, who oversaw the event that followed a similar flag-raising ceremony last month outside the Cuban Embassy in Washington. "It is time to unfurl our flags, raise them up and let the world know that we wish each other well."

The flag raising represents the latest step in the changing relationship between the two nations since President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced an end to the diplomatic freeze in December. On Friday, Kerry applauded the two leaders for their "courageous decision" and thanked Pope Francis, who helped facilitate a dialog between the two nations and will visit Cuba next month before traveling to the U.S.

To help raise the flag, American officials brought back three of the U.S. Marines who lowered it in 1961 when the U.S. cut off ties with Cuba at the peak of the Cold War.

"For our nations, today represents the beginning of a new chapter” and a key step in normalizing relations, Jeffrey DeLaurentis, the chief U.S. diplomat in Havana, said in opening remarks. Kerry called it a "historic moment" and a "day for pushing aside old barriers and exploring new possibilities."

Many who have opposed Obama's decision to normalize relations with Cuba have said the deal does not require the Cuban government to improve its human rights record.

"Instead of embracing democracy and changing their oppressive behavior, the Castro regime has countered with a list of expensive demands and continued to deny basic freedoms to its own people," House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said in a statement Friday.  "Opening the door to an embassy in Cuba will not open the door to democracy for the Cuban people."

Opponents of the accord were further enraged when the U.S. State Department decided not to allow any Cuban dissidents into Friday's ceremony, instead inviting them to a private reception at the chief of the U.S. mission's residence in Havana later in the day. Cuban-American Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., sent a letter to Kerry earlier this week asking him to reconsider the decision.

Despite the lack of dissidents in the crowd, Kerry spoke forcefully about the need for the communist government to give more freedoms to its people. With Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez and other government officials sitting in front of him, Kerry said Cuba must now abide by the same human rights conventions accepted by other countries in the Americas.

"The United States will always remain a champion of democratic principles and reforms," he said. "We remain convinced the people of Cuba would be best served by a genuine democracy, where people are free to choose their leaders, express their ideas, practice their faith."

During a joint press conference with Kerry later in the day at the iconic Hotel Nacional, Rodriguez countered that the Cuban government is "proud" of its human rights record. He said the U.S. should worry instead about its own human rights problems, including racial discrimination and police abuses.

"I’m convinced that despite the differences between our governments, which obviously aren’t going to disappear, it’s possible to construct relations that are civilized and respectful," Rodriguez said.

Kerry and Rodriguez said they each support ending the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, although Republicans in Congress have insisted that won't happen until broad political, economic and civil society changes take place on the island. Rodriguez repeated Cuba's insistence that the U.S. relinquish the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, but Kerry said that issue is not on the table.

Kerry and Rodriguez said diplomats would reconvene in September to continue talks to reach "full normalization."

A wave of Americans were in attendance at Friday morning's ceremony, including members of Congress, businessmen and women, and academics who have lobbied for the changes. Cuban-American poet Richard Blanco, who read one of his works at Obama's second inauguration in 2013, delivered a poem that examined the commonality in the lives of residents of the United States and Cuba.

"Today the sea is still telling us the end to all our doubts and fears is to gaze into the lucid blue of our shared horizon, to breathe together, to heal together," he said.

The American building was only redesignated as a U.S. Embassy last month. Before that, it served as the U.S. Interests Section since 1977. In that form, it was the focus of decades of anti-American protests, with Cubans once erecting 138 flagpoles to block the view of the building.

On Friday, thousands of Cubans lined up outside the building, this time cheering along as the American flag was raised.

Jean Pierre Soubal Mora, a Cuban researcher at the Finlay Center for Vaccines Research and Production, said he never thought he'd live to see such a moment.

"It's a symbolic act, but it marks such a big change," he said. "We're happy about the normalization. This is a positive step, but we still have a long way to go."

Contributing: Katharine Lackey in McLean, Va.