US-Cuba ties: Washington and Havana to announce embassies

• 31 June 2015
 
• From the sectionLatin America & Caribbean

There has not been a US embassy in the Cuban capital Havana since the 1960s

The US and Cuba will on Wednesday announce the opening of embassies in each other's capitals, a major step in re-establishing diplomatic ties severed in 1961, a senior US official has said.

Relations had been frozen since the early 1960s when the US broke links and imposed a trade embargo.

This was in response to the revolution in 1961 which brought Fidel Castro's Communist government to power.

The US and Cuba agreed to normalise relations at the end of 2014.

A US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the announcement on opening embassies was scheduled for Wednesday morning, Washington time.

It is not yet known if US President Barack Obama will make the announcement himself or through a press release.

In May, the US removed Cuba from its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Plans to resume ferry and flight services between the US and Cuba were also announced.

Despite the new transport links, a Cuba travel ban is still in place for US citizens.

on Tuesday, June 30, 2015