The Untold Story of the U.S. and Cuba’s Middleman | Foreign Policy
▻https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/08/03/the-untold-story-of-the-u-s-and-cubas-middleman
On the day the United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic ties after a half-century of acrimony, the scene at the newly opened Cuban Embassy in Washington was euphoric. A boisterous band played the Cuban national anthem as a three-man honor guard marched onto the front lawn and mounted the island nation’s flag. Five hundred dignitaries, including senior U.S. diplomats, a large visiting Cuban delegation, and U.S. lawmakers filled the nearly century-old mansion. Even Hollywood B-lister Danny Glover made an appearance.
But on that same day in mid-July, less than two miles away, another historic milestone occurred without a single reporter or media photographer to document it. In silence, the Swiss ambassador to the United States, Martin Dahinden, took out a screwdriver and removed a small golden plate from the Swiss Embassy that identified the Swiss government as the “protecting power” of Cuban interests in the United States.
With a few turns of the screw, Switzerland was out of a job after 54 years of playing the middleman between Havana and Washington — the longest stretch of time that the Swiss government, and perhaps any government in history, has represented the interests of a foreign power in another country. Due to the resumption of diplomatic ties, Cuba and the United States no longer need Switzerland to communicate with each other, ending an assignment the Swiss formally accepted in 1961 when President Dwight Eisenhower cut off ties with Fidel Castro’s communist regime.
El cartel que identifica a la Oficina de Intereses de Cuba, de la Embajada de Suiza. Pronto este cartel será historia.
Foto: Ismael Francisco/ Cubadebate
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Cuba – Estados Unidos: Siete claves para entender lo que está pasando ▻http://www.trabajadores.cu/20150520/cuba-estados-unidos-siete-claves-para-entender-lo-que-esta-pasando