“Cuba is a lot closer,” said U.S. Secretary of State at a ceremony held at Miami Dade College, in which he reviewed the progress made so far in the process of normalization of relations with Cuba.
“We have millions of Cuban Americans helping to build prosperity in the United States,” he said. “We have interests that we share with Cuba in safe navigation and aviation, protecting the environment, curbing crime. We also have major differences with the Cuban Government that President Obama spoke to repeatedly during his recent trip to Havana.”
At the Honors Ceremony, held on Thursday, April 14, Secretary Kerry noted the importance of President Obama’s visit to Cuba: “It seems to me that there is a great value in seeing America’s leader and Cuba’s leader stand side by side before the whole world answering hard questions about human rights, political prisoners, and what freedom means.
“It’s good when the chief executive of the United States sits down with the embattled leaders of Cuba’s civil society so they can share their ideas with him directly and he can tell them directly that we care.
“It is right for American businessmen to inform Cuba’s leaders that lifting the embargo won’t matter if they fail to lift up and open their own economy, enable their citizens to go online, and allow their people the freedom to build a better life.
Anticipating the position of some of the people attending, many of whom are part of the Cuban American community in Florida, Mr. Kerry said to be aware of the arguments against the rapprochement with Cuba, but defended the validity of this new policy:
“It’s hard to think of a weaker diplomatic tool than a closed embassy. That’s why even during the Cold War, the United States never broke relations with the Soviet Union. Presidents went to Moscow, had negotiations, signed agreements.
“And it is healthy when Cuban Americans and Cubans are able to visit with each other, restore family ties, and build new friendships.
“To be clear, we neither can – nor should – forget what happened in the past. No one is suggesting that. But as the scriptures remind us, to everything there is a season. And for the United States and Cuba, the time has come to replace yesterday’s gridlock with tomorrow’s agenda for change.”
