Giving guidance on regulatory compliance and help with networking are normal practices at U.S. embassies around the world. But they're still foreign territory for U.S. officials at the reopened embassy in Cuba.
Before this past week's historic resumption of diplomatic relations with Cuba, Washington Post photojournalist Sarah L. Voisin visited the nation to capture a lifestyle that will inevitably change as businesses emerge among a population hopeful for new goods.
The ceremony -- attended by Cuban President Raúl Castro and some 10,000 of the country's ruling elite and their guests, but not by the frail 88-year-old Fidel -- was the first since the restoration of relations with the United States.
U.S. and Cuban bartenders toasted with daiquiris at the grave of the barman who served drinks for writer Ernest Hemingway at the Floridita bar in Old Havana.
President Barack Obama made the closure of the controversial offshore prison a priority when he took office in 2009, but the plan has faced numerous setbacks, including Congress blocking the transfer of detainees to U.S. prisons.
A Tico Times reporter reflects on the significance of the Cuban flag's renewed appearance in Washington. Meanwhile, protestors and supporters continue to spar over the island's record and U.S.-Cuba relations.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – A diplomatic freeze that stretched back five decades, outlasting the Cold War and nine U.S. presidencies, officially ended Monday as Cuba and the United States reopened embassies.
On Monday morning, Cuba and the U.S. will re-open embassies in each other's countries. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez arrives in Washington Sunday night along with other high-ranking officials, former diplomats, and Cuban cultural and sports icons.
Some economists say Cuba should seek to rejoin international financial institutions in order to reduce poverty and further economic reforms. Cuba is one of only eight countries that do not belong to the International Monetary Fund.
If Carnival is allowed to dock in Cuba it would be the first time a cruise ship travels between the two countries since they broke off diplomatic relations in 1961.
