Cuba is poised for change with new diplomatic ties

Cuba is poised for change with new diplomatic ties
BY LEWIS W. DIUGUID
The Kansas City Star August 3, 2015 Updated 22 hours ago

Our first glimpse of Cuba's future occurred at the airport in Tampa,
Fla. The checked bags and packages of Cubans returning to Havana
included large flat-screen TVs, electronics, appliances and
shrink-wrapped luggage loaded with consumer items that they couldn't get
in their country. One man wore a stack of several cowboy hats.

My partner, Bette, and I were among 19 educators, students and other
professionals ages 20 to 83 on a "Cuba at a Crossroads" tour in July
sponsored by the National Association for Multicultural Education. The
trip followed the announcement last December by President Barack Obama
and Cuban President Raul Castro announcing talks Dec. 17 to normalize
relations between two long-estranged countries.

We wanted to see this communist nation before it started to change. With
the diplomatic thaw and embassies opening, change will be inevitable.

The history of the strained relations between the U.S. and Cuba isn't a
mystery to Cubans. They know of the successful revolution that Fidel
Castro led in 1959, the state takeover of property and the exodus of
wealthy Cubans to the United States.

The youngest members of our group, however, weren't aware of the unusual
history between the U.S. and Cuba. It wasn't taught in their schools.

Those of us who were older lived through the tensions, including the
failed 1961 U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion, the many attempts to
assassinate Fidel Castro and the 1962 missile crisis when the Soviet
Union tried to put weapons in Cuba aimed at the United States. Cold War
tensions and the threat of nuclear annihilation had never been higher.
Fortunately the Soviets blinked, and war was averted.

The Cubans, though, have suffered 54 years of isolation caused by a U.S.
trade embargo that President John F. Kennedy initiated after Cuba's
takeover of U.S. assets. Life for Cubans got harder after the Soviet
Union collapsed in 1991, severing Cuba's economic lifeline. Conditions
worsened after Congress in 1996 passed the Helms-Burton law, imposing
sanctions against foreign countries and corporations that did business
with Cuba.

Cubans told us the "special period" was worse than the Great Depression
in the United States. Cuba was unable to export goods, including coffee,
sugar and mining products of nickel and cobalt.

Rita M. Pereina, who was our guide during our eight days in her
homeland, said Cuba's 11 million people went without food and good
nutrition. Transportation suffered, and electricity was scarce.

"We didn't have blackouts, we had lights on only seven to eight hours at
a time, maybe," said Pereina, a lawyer and women and gay rights
advocate. "Cuba had to learn to survive."

It did by becoming more open to people visiting Cuba. People marvel at
the 1940s to 1960s American autos, which Cuban ingenuity keeps running.
Housing and other structures also are old but deteriorating because of a
devastated economy.

Yet in the streets of Havana and the Cuban countryside, we saw young
people hungry for Western technology. Bigger hotels than the Hotel Paseo
Habana where we stayed offered Wi-Fi, attracting young Cubans with
smartphones, tablets and laptops to the lobbies.

A Wi-Fi hotspot in a Havana park was filled with young Cubans glued to
their new devices. The Cuban Parliament during our stay even started
giving updates on Twitter and Facebook.

In a discussion we had with members of the Community Project Espiral, a
group that educates youths on environmental issues and sustainable
development, Cubans said they wanted better relations with the U.S. and
wanted America out of Guantanamo. They hoped for more Wi-Fi, Facebook
and other social media access. But no one expected American fast food
like McDonald's to replace Cuban cuisine or Starbucks to outdo Cuban coffee.

We laughed and could clearly see that their optimism and social media
will help unite our nations. That was our hope, too.

ABOUT THE WRITER

Lewis W. Diuguid is a member of The Kansas City Star's Editorial Board.
Readers may write to him at: Kansas City Star, 1729 Grand Blvd., Kansas
City, Mo. 64108-1413, or by email at Ldiuguid@kcstar.com.

Source: Lewis W. Diuguid: Cuba is poised for change with new diplomatic
ties | Other Opinions | Bradenton Herald -
http://www.bradenton.com/2015/08/03/5924463_lewis-w-diuguid-cuba-is-poised.html?rh=1