Flags rise over Havana; U.S. and Cuba reopen embassies after 54 years

For 54 years, the United States and Cuba had no embassies in each other's capitals. The freeze dated to the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis. On July 20, 2015, that ended: American diplomats returned to Havana and Cuban diplomats opened an embassy in Washington, following a framework President Obama and President Raúl Castro announced the previous December. The deal came after secret talks hosted in Canada and Vatican City, brokered in part by Pope Francis, and included prisoner releases on both sides. The embargo itself stayed in place…