Why were there many flagpoles in front of the US Embassy in Cuba in 1961?

On August 14th, during his historic visit to Cuba, US Secretary of State Kerry attended the flag-raising ceremony of the US Embassy in Cuba, and the American flag was raised in Cuba for the first time in 54 years. In his speech before the flag-raising ceremony, Kerry said that coming to the US Embassy in Cuba was "like coming home", and Kerry never saw a few words of Spanish in front of "hometown elders".

The U.S. Embassy in Cuba, which makes Kerry feel at home, is a mediocre but by no means ordinary building, and it is the best testimony to the changing situation of the relationship between the United States and Cuba in the past half century. The Embassy is located on the famous Binhai Avenue in Havana, the capital of Cuba. It is a gray seven-story concrete building. The appearance of the building is like a matchbox, lacking architectural beauty, and it doesn't match the many quaint and exquisite Spanish buildings in Havana at all. However, it is said that when the embassy was completed in 195s, its rough shape was still very avant-garde, which inspired many people to yearn for American culture.

The Matchbox was built in 1953. At that time, Cuba was ruled by the pro-American Batista military dictatorship. The relationship between the United States and Cuba was as good as a family. Americans came to Cuba for vacation when they had nothing to do. While Cuba's economy was developing, gambling, drugs and prostitution were rampant.

on January 1st, 1959, the Cuban revolution led by Fidel Castro won. "Matchbox" did not change at the beginning of the victory of the revolution. On January 6 of that year, the United States recognized the new Cuban regime, and the "matchbox" also welcomed the new American ambassador to Cuba. The relationship between the United States and Cuba has deteriorated under the combined effect of a series of complex events and factors, such as Cuba's agricultural reform touching the interests of the United States, the two camps of the United States and the Soviet Union vying for Cuba, and the United States isolating Cuba internationally and attempting to subvert the Cuban regime. In January 1961, Castro asked the United States to drastically reduce the number of people working in the "matchbox" from 69 to 11 within 48 hours, because the "matchbox" was "full of terrorists trying to subvert the Cuban regime." On January 3, 1961, the American government decided to close its embassy in Cuba, and the matchbox closed. In April of that year, Cuba defeated the mercenary invasion of Cuba organized by the United States, and the United States and Cuba completely broke off diplomatic relations.

in p>1977, Jimmy Carter, then president of the United States, reached an understanding with Fidel Castro, the Cuban leader, and the United States set up the "American interests representative office in Cuba" in the "matchbox". This representative office was nominally hung under the Swiss embassy in Cuba, which was lower than the embassy level, but could provide consular services related to the United States.

From then on, the matchbox has a new function: it provides a stage for the infighting between the United States and Cuba. In 2, Cuba set up a huge billboard outside the "Matchbox" after the "Erin Incident", which read "Swear to the survival of the motherland, we will win". In 24, the United States put lights on the "matchbox" wall, suggesting that Cuba held 75 political prisoners. Cuba then hung around the "matchbox" with photos of the US military abusing prisoners in Iraq. In 26, Americans installed an electronic display screen on the outer wall of the "matchbox" to scroll the anti-ancient information. Cubans erected 138 flagpoles about 2 meters high in front of the Matchbox, all of which were hung with black flags, which completely blocked the American display screen ...

From July 2th this year, the Matchbox was officially upgraded to the "American Embassy in Cuba". I believe that with the further warming of the relationship between the United States and Cuba, the "matchbox" will witness more important historical moments. At present, there are 36 staff members in the "matchbox", including more than 5 American employees, and the rest are Cuban employees. This 62-year-old building has been exposed to tropical sunshine and eroded by sea breeze all the year round, which has been aging in many places and needs to be renovated urgently.