Cuba dissidents won’t attend U.S. Embassy event

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration doesn’t plan to invite Cuban dissidents to Secretary of State John Kerry’s historic flag raising at the U.S. Embassy in Havana on Friday, vividly illustrating how U.S. policy is shifting focus from the island’s opposition to its single-party government.

Excluding dissidents would certainly provoke fierce criticism from opponents of Obama’s new policy, including Cuban American Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio.

“It wouldn’t be surprising if North American diplomats prioritize contacts with the Cuban government,” said Elizardo Sanchez, head of the Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation, a relatively moderate dissident group.

The Obama administration says it is normalizing ties with Cuba after more than 50 years of hostility failed to shake the communist state’s hold on power.

More than 20 U.S. lawmakers have visited Cuba since February without meeting the opposition groups that were once obligatory for congressional delegations.