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.
During his speech at the embassy under a baking sun, Mr. Kerry pressed his point that the Cuban government needed to do more to improve economic and political ties.
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“The president has taken steps to ease restrictions on remittances, on exports and imports to help Cuban private entrepreneurs, on telecommunications, on family travel, but we want to go further,” Mr. Kerry said.
“Just as we are doing our part, we urge the Cuban government to make it less difficult for their citizens to start businesses, to engage in trade, access information online,” Mr. Kerry added. “Both sides need to remove restrictions that have been holding Cubans back.”