Pelosi Statement on U.S.-Cuba Agreement to Open Embassies

July 1, 2015

San Francisco – Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement after President Obama announced that the United States and Cuba have reached an agreement to reopen embassies in each other's capitals after more than 50 years:

"The agreement announced today by President Obama to reestablish embassies in Washington and Havana represents historic progress toward restored relations with Cuba.

"Today, we recognize that the absence of a U.S. embassy in Cuba serves neither the strategic interests of our nation, nor the democratic aspirations of the Cuban people. Reopening embassies lays the foundation for a new, more productive relationship with Cuba that can support and advance key American priorities — including human rights, counter-narcotics cooperation, business opportunities for American companies, migration, family unification, and cultural and faith-based exchanges.

"President Obama's bold leadership has opened a new era of possibility in U.S.-Cuban relations. Many of the Members of Congress who have participated in delegations to Cuba since the President's breakthrough announcement in December, including myself, have seen first-hand what restored American engagement would mean to the Cuban people and the American people. It is my hope that we can continue to take our relations in a positive and constructive direction."