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[h=4]Cuban flag flies at embassy in Washington[/h]WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Throngs of demonstrators gathered Monday to witness the raising of the Cuban flag over the Cuban Embassy, the first time it has flown here since the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with Cuba.
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Cuba raises national flag at embassy in Washington, D.C. USA TODAY
Following formal restoration of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States, the Embassy of Cuba officially re-opened in Washington, D.C. The opening was marked by a flag-raising ceremony.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
WASHINGTON —<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Throngs of demonstrators gathered Monday to witness the raising of the<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flag of Cuba over the Cuban Embassy, the first time it has flown here<span style="color: Red;">*</span>since the U.S. broke off diplomatic relations with the communist country 54 years ago.
As<span style="color: Red;">*</span>American and Cuban diplomats stood<span style="color: Red;">*</span>side by side, three Cuban guards<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in white uniforms<span style="color: Red;">*</span>marched out of the building,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>attached the flag to a recently-constructed flag pole and raised it above Washington's 16th Street, just 2 miles north of the White House, to mark the formal re-opening of the embassy.
The move signaled the latest, and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>most visible,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>step toward normal ties<span style="color: Red;">*</span>between the United States<span style="color: Red;">*</span>and Cuba. President Obama and Cuban President Raúl Castro announced in December that the two countries would end their five-decade diplomatic freeze.
While the U.S. Embassy in Havana also opened Monday,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the U.S. State Department said it<span style="color: Red;">*</span>won't host a similar flag-raising ceremony in the Cuban capital<span style="color: Red;">*</span>until later this summer, when Secretary of State John Kerry plans to attend and oversee the event. In the meantime,<span style="color: Red;">*</span>the department on Monday added a Cuban flag in a hall inside its Washington headquarters along with<span style="color: Red;">*</span>flags from every country that has<span style="color: Red;">*</span>diplomatic relations with the U.S.
Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez (2nd R) applauds as the Cuban flag is raised in front of the country's embassy for the first time in 54 years July 20, 2015 in Washington, DC.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Chip Somodevilla, Getty Images)
Monday's ceremony<span style="color: Red;">*</span>drew pro- and anti-Cuban protests. Chants of "Viva Cuba" and "Viva Fidel" competed against those of "Free Cuba" and<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Cuba, forever socialist." One man was arrested after throwing a red paint bomb into a crowd.
"I am here to see a day of infamy,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>shouted Frank Calzon, executive director of the Center for a Free Cuba, a Washington<span style="color: Red;">*</span>group that opposes<span style="color: Red;">*</span>any opening with Cuba.
Another protester, Aimel Rios, said the new relationship will only hurt the Cuban people if the U.S. does not force human rights changes on the island, which stands to receive a financial windfall from increased American trade and travel.
"I came here to raise awareness about systematic human rights violations in Cuba," said Rios, 31, who left Cuba for the U.S. in 1999 as a political refugee and is now a human rights worker. "If people are not free to carry out a strike, then how could they defend themselves against human rights violations?"
Former Florida governor Jeb Bush, a leading Republican presidential candidate, tweeted that engaging politically with Cuba "will only serve to further legitimize (the) repressive regime." Sen. Bob Menendez, D-N.J., said that diplomatic relations with the U.S. "are a privilege and must be earned," something the Cuban government has failed to do by imprisoning 2,800 political activists this year alone.
Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., countered that if the U.S. only worked with countries it agrees with completely, "we would have to close half of our current embassies."
"That is now why you have embassies," said Leahy, who attended Monday's flag-raising. "It is to protect the interests of the United States and of American citizens and to defend our ideals around the world."
The reopening of the Cuban embassy was marked by a flag-raising ceremony.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY)
Outside the Cuban embassy, college counselor Evelyn González<span style="color: Red;">*</span>said the U.S. should never have broken relations with Cuba in the first place.
The United States "should respect other countries' sovereignty," said Gonzalez, a Salvadoran-American. "The people in government of Cuba want to normalize relations. They will benefit because they have been strangled."
James Williams, president of Engage Cuba, a non-profit group that supports normalized relations, said Congress should now move to remove the economic embargo against Cuba.
"It is time to allow Americans to be our best ambassadors by opening the doors to travel," he said. "And, it is time to allow American businesses to compete in a market of 11 million people just 90 miles off our coast."
Contributing: Alan Gomez in Miami.
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