Mr. Kerry’s visit was the first by a secretary of state since Edward R. Stettinius Jr. made a short trip to Havana in 1945. Though President Obama has restored formal diplomatic relations after more than half a century of hostility, the two countries have a long way to go to normalize relations.
The morning’s highlight was a carefully choreographed ceremony at the American Embassy. Richard Blanco, a Cuban-American poet who read a poem at Mr. Obama’s second inauguration, becoming the first openly gay person to deliver such a reading, recited one of his works before Mr. Kerry spoke.