Klobuchar to attend opening of embassy in Havana; Kerry says he will meet with dissidents
August 12, 2015 |06:59 PM
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., will attend the ceremonial opening of the U.S. embassy in Cuba on Friday, her office announced today.
She will accompany Secretary of State John Kerry, who will preside over the ceremony in Havana.
Klobuchar is the sponsor of the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act, which would eliminate the legal barriers to Americans doing business in Cuba but not repeal provisions of current law that address human rights in Cuba or that allow individuals and businesses to pursue claims against the Cuban government. The bill has 21 cosponsors.
Klobuchar also attended the opening of the Cuban embassy in Washington on July 20, and is a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to lift the Cuba travel ban, her office noted.
Kerry said today that he will meet with Cuban dissidents, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and others have insisted.
In an interview with Telemundo to be broadcast tonight, Kerry said, “I am going to meet with dissidents. I will have an opportunity in the course of the day to meet.”
“They will be invited to our mission,” Kerry said. “They will come to the mission. I will have a chance to sit down with them at the mission. There will be a broad cross-section of Cuban society that will be invited to that event at the mission.
“What they are not invited to, quite openly, is the raising of the flag at the embassy itself, because that is a government-to-government moment, with very limited space, by the way, which is why we are having the reception later in the day, in which we can have a cross-section of civil society, including some dissidents.”
Kerry added that he would “take an open, free walk in Old Havana at some point of the day.”
“I look forward to meeting whoever I meet and listening to them and having, you know, whatever views come at me,” he said.
“So, the United States, I can assure you, in this effort, after 54 years of seeing zero progress, one of the things we negotiated is the ability of our diplomats to be able to meet with people in Cuba, and not to be restrained,” Kerry said.
“And I believe the people of Cuba benefit on virtue by that presence and that ability.”
She will accompany Secretary of State John Kerry, who will preside over the ceremony in Havana.
Klobuchar is the sponsor of the Freedom to Export to Cuba Act, which would eliminate the legal barriers to Americans doing business in Cuba but not repeal provisions of current law that address human rights in Cuba or that allow individuals and businesses to pursue claims against the Cuban government. The bill has 21 cosponsors.
Klobuchar also attended the opening of the Cuban embassy in Washington on July 20, and is a cosponsor of bipartisan legislation to lift the Cuba travel ban, her office noted.
Kerry said today that he will meet with Cuban dissidents, as Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., and others have insisted.
In an interview with Telemundo to be broadcast tonight, Kerry said, “I am going to meet with dissidents. I will have an opportunity in the course of the day to meet.”
“They will be invited to our mission,” Kerry said. “They will come to the mission. I will have a chance to sit down with them at the mission. There will be a broad cross-section of Cuban society that will be invited to that event at the mission.
“What they are not invited to, quite openly, is the raising of the flag at the embassy itself, because that is a government-to-government moment, with very limited space, by the way, which is why we are having the reception later in the day, in which we can have a cross-section of civil society, including some dissidents.”
Kerry added that he would “take an open, free walk in Old Havana at some point of the day.”
“I look forward to meeting whoever I meet and listening to them and having, you know, whatever views come at me,” he said.
“So, the United States, I can assure you, in this effort, after 54 years of seeing zero progress, one of the things we negotiated is the ability of our diplomats to be able to meet with people in Cuba, and not to be restrained,” Kerry said.
“And I believe the people of Cuba benefit on virtue by that presence and that ability.”
