The United States has raised its flag over the newly reopened U.S. Embassy in Cuba for the first time in 54 years. Speaking at a ceremony in Havana, Secretary of State John Kerry hailed the thawing of diplomatic relations between Cuba and the United States.

Secretary of State John Kerry: “My friends, it doesn’t take a GPS to realize that the road of mutual isolation and estrangement that the United States and Cuba were traveling was not the right one and that the time has come for us to move in a more promising direction. In the United States, that means recognizing that U.S. policy is not the anvil on which Cuba’s future will be forged.”

The U.S. trade embargo on Cuba remains in place. Speaking to reporters at the end of his visit, Kerry said there was “no way” Congress would vote to lift the embargo on Cuba if it doesn’t move to improve its human rights record.