The United States Interests Section of the Embassy of Switzerland in Havana, Cuba or USINT Havana (the State Department telegraphic address) represented United States interests in Cuba from September 1, 1977 to July 20, 2015. It was staffed by United States Foreign Service personnel and local staff employed by the US Department of State, and located in a multi-story office building on the Malecón across from the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana. The mission resumed its role as the Embassy of the United States in Cuba on July 20, 2015, following the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.
USINT Havana formally operated under the protection of the Embassy of Switzerland while its counterpart, the Interests Section of the Republic of Cuba in Washington, until 1991, was formally a Section of the Embassy of Czechoslovakia, although they operated independently in virtually all but name and protocol respects. During this period, the United States and Cuba did not operate embassies in each other's countries, and their respective Interests Sections functioned as de facto embassies. Switzerland became the protecting power for both in 1991. The last Section Chief of USINT Havana was Jeffrey DeLaurentis, who served from August 2014 to its termination in 2015. He subsequently became Chargé d'affaires of the embassy.
History
The US broke diplomatic relations with Cuba on January 3, 1961, formally due to a disagreement about staffing levels at the respective embassies. US President Dwight D. Eisenhower stated at the time, "There is a limit to what the United States in self-respect can endure. That limit has now been reached". Protective powers were appointed to represent each country in the capital of the other. The US was represented by Switzerland in Havana, and the Cubans by Czechoslovakia in Washington. These offices, sections of the respective embassies, were staffed by Swiss and Czechoslovak diplomats.
US and Cuban Interests Sections staffed by actual US and Cuban diplomats were mutually agreed upon in 1977 in a Carter Administration initiative to seek normalization of relations with Cuba. US Foreign Service Officers and Marine Guards replaced the Swiss personnel operating out of the US Interests Section in Havana on September 1, 1977. Both the Swiss and later with US staff, occupied the former United States Embassy building on Havana's Malecon which was designed by Harrison & Abramovitz architects and originally entered into service in 1953. When relations were broken in 1961, the building was occupied, and its contents safeguarded, by the Swiss diplomats who handled US interests in Cuba on behalf of the US Government as the protecting power until the arrival of the US staff in 1977.
The Swiss staff included some of the Foreign Service National employees who were working at the US Embassy when relations were broken. Sixteen years later, when the US Government resumed its presence, many of them remained. Virtually all of the local hires employed by the Swiss continued their employment. New hires were obtained through CUBALSE, a Cuban Government enterprise that provided personnel and other services to local diplomatic missions.
The initial American staffing of the Section consisted of ten State Department Officials and a plain clothes US Marine guard detachment. By mutual agreement, the Cubans had an equal number of staff in Washington. Lyle Franklin Lane was the first Chief of the Interests Section in Havana. When the advance team took over the building from the Swiss, they found items dating from the 1950s, including Eisenhower's photograph. Wayne Smith, who had closed the Embassy in 1961 as a young officer, and was instrumental in opening the interests Section as incoming Director of Cuban Affairs, replaced Lane in September 1979 when the entire US staff turned over after an initial two-year tour of duty.
