By Saturday morning, as the giddy reaction to the flag-raising ceremony wore off, many Cubans were leavening their praise of Kerry with criticism of the U.S. that echoed Rodriguez.

You know … the one our government was still trying to overthrow as recently as previous year.

Some Cuban dissidents, including the leader of the Ladies in White, Berta Soler, and opposition member Antonio Gonzalez-Rodiles, turned down an invitation to attend a private reception with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry during his visit to Cuba.

It’s a highly symbolic moment, an event that reflects how much the U.S.-Cuba relationship is changing. “It remains an unyielding dictatorship, a tragic example of the folly of communism, and an affront to the conscience of the free nations of the Western Hemisphere”.

Josefina Vidal, Cuba’s lead negotiator in talks on restoring diplomatic relations, told Reuters that Cuba’s sovereignty was not negotiable and Cuba has no interest in placating its enemies in the United States.

Think of the possibilities: Cuba is only 90 miles south of Florida and less than one hour’s flight from Miami global Airport. Therefore, communist government understood that American embargo and the isolation of Cuba’s economy must be managed in a way that the revolutionary ideals could be preserved by Cuba’s new generation that no longer remembers why or how the two countries became enemies.

So Raul Castro, the Revolutionary Leader and US President Barack Obama, born just a few months after the Cuban Missile Crisis, tried to defrost the frozen bilateral relation and Cuban Thaw began.

The flag-raising ceremony at the U.S. Embassy in Havana marks the successful conclusion of what Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez called the “first stage” in the process of normalizing relations.

Julio Alvarez heads the custom cab company that operates them and he says the State Department had invited him to send them without saying why.

The official reopening of the U.S. Embassy in Havana took place against the backdrop of lingering concerns over Cuba’s human rights record, including ongoing harassment of independent LGBT activists who publicly criticize the island’s Communist government. “Cuba’s future is for Cubans to shape”, he added.

Cubans should be free to choose their own leaders, Kerry said, telling the government to respect global norms of human rights.

Cuban Americans have mixed emotions about the thawing relations between the two countries.

But he also warned that the US would not stop pressing for political change in Cuba.

Giant Cuban flags hang from the balconies of nearby apartment buildings and people are gathering at their windows with a view of the embassy.

Cheaper Cuban health care will no doubt appeal to many Americans as well.

Kerry will meet Cuban dissidents at the US Embassy residence in Havana later on Friday. Castro, who has made modest market-style reforms since taking over from his elder brother Fidel Castro in 2008, has made clear he has no intention of allowing rapid political changes. He also reiterated the Cuban government’s calls for an end to the decades-long American embargo against the island and the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.