Havana/Ten years after reopening its doors, the United States embassy in Havana recalled this Thursday the date with an unambiguous message in its official Instagram account: “We continue with our mission of supporting the Cuban people in their aspirations for a better future.”
In the Shared imagesAmbassador Mike Hammer travels the streets, greets Citizens and talks with them. The enthusiasm that causes his presence contrasts with the coldness that the paintings of power often receive. He has bother his style to the Cuban government, which has even taken advantage of gross assemblies with militants of the Communist Party posing as “Cubans on foot”, which increase in public, to try to erode his image. However, the Embassy confirms that Hammer has no intention of giving up: “We are committed to continuing to speak with Cubans on foot throughout the country to know their priorities and concerns, and to amplify their voices.”
Castro applied the same tactic with which he had eliminated internal rivals: Azuzar to the masses before acting
Since 1959, the US diplomatic headquarters has been a bilateral relationship thermometer. After the arrival of Fidel Castro to power, tensions for expropriations, asylum to opponents and Cuba’s approach to the USSR led to a crisis. Castro applied the same tactic with which he had eliminated internal rivals: Azuzar to the masses before acting from the government. “They used the embassy to introduce here conspirators and terrorists, because they have been directing terrorism covered in diplomatic immunity,” he denounced on January 2, 1961 before a overflowing civic square and under a downpour. The crowd responded to the shout of “Out!”, “Let them all leave!”
The next day, the administration of Eisenhower broke relations and closed the embassy. Switzerland assumed the representation as “protective power” in Havana, while Czechoslovakia did the same in Washington. The Malecon building was in Swiss custody until 1977, when, within the framework of the relaxation promoted by Jimmy Carter, both parties agreed to open sections of interest. The US Office of Interests (Usint) then resumed the property built in 1953 and began functioning as a de facto embassy.
James Cason and his contact with the opposition were the pretext to trigger the repression of black spring
In the 80s, the headquarters was the epicenter of the exodus of Mariel and, after the 1994 Balsers crisis, a key piece in the implementation of migratory agreements. Between 2002 and 2006, the prominence of the head of the Usint James Cason and his contact with the opposition were the pretext to trigger the repression of black spring and a hardening of the regime’s speech. In 2005, before the Cuban Parliament, Castro did not hesitate to call the then Secretary of State for Condoleezza Rice, “commierdas” to the members of the commission for a free and “little thug” Cuba to Cason.
The “poster war” between the Usint and the regime had its climax in 2006, with a huge electronic panel that disseminated messages on human rights and that Castro replied with marches, a mountain of the flags and anti -state fences. The tension fell in 2009, already with the administration of Obama.
The approach was truncated in 2017 with the so -called Havana syndrome
The thaw arrived in 2015. On July 20, the headquarters in Havana and Washington officially recovered their Embassy Status and, on August 14, Secretary of State John Kerry raised the flag in the esplanade that he gives to the boardwalk for the first time since 1961. The approach, however, was truncated in 2017 with the so -called Havana syndrome and the drastic reduction of the diplomatic personnel. The arrival at the White House of Donald Trump and the increase in the tone of the confrontation between the two governments ended up freezing the thaw.
In 2023, Washington gradually resumed the processing of immigrants. An intelligence report of that same year described as “unlikely” that a foreign adversary was behind health incidents, weakening the hypothesis of attacks.
With Mike Hammer in front, the embassy has recovered visibility and direct contact with civil society
Since 2024, with Mike Hammer in front, the Embassy has recovered visibility and direct contact with civil society. His statements about 11J prisoners and support for the private sector have caused friction with the governmentwho has accused him of “interference behaviors.”
If the images of ten years ago show dozens of smiling faces that contemplate the lifting of the flag of the bars and the stars in front of the diplomatic headquarters, today around the building the personnel who work inside, the police who patrol the area and the applicants of a visa to emigrate to the US are approaching.
Two antagonistic visions summarize the story of this diplomatic headquarters: symbol of hatred of “empire” for the regime, but also an opportunity for the majority of a tired, hungry people, and with more desire to leave than to join a march.
