Cuban foreign minister Bruno Rodriguez said the landmark restoration of U.S. - Cuba relations and the reopening of embassies will only make sense if the United States lifts its blockade on the island nation and returns to Cuba the U.S. Naval base at Guantanamo Bay. In Colombia, president Juan Manuel Santos addressed congress as part of the country's 205th anniversary of its independence. In Spain, catalan separatists warned they are ready to declare unilateral independence if madrid attempts to block an independence process they hope to launch in september's regional elections. After months of suspension due to civil unrest and a coup attempt, elections polls were opened in Burundi. The new development bank of the BRICS bloc has been officially opened for business in Shanghai, China.