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| In Miami, a mixed and muted response to historic change in Cuba policy | In Miami, a mixed and muted response to historic change in Cuba policy |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| MIAMI — Powder-keg Miami is strikingly calm. Great masses of protesters haven’t materialized, at least not yet. Some agitators have found the TV lights like moths to a flame, but what hasn’t happened seems more significant than what has. | |
| The biggest change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in half a century, a historic rapprochement — the end of the Cold War! — has not yet incited organized outrage at the level where people start pouring onto Calle Ocho. Something has changed here over the years — and the decades. | The biggest change in U.S. policy toward Cuba in half a century, a historic rapprochement — the end of the Cold War! — has not yet incited organized outrage at the level where people start pouring onto Calle Ocho. Something has changed here over the years — and the decades. |
| There was a small crowd of people gathering Wednesday night directly in front of the take-out window at Versailles (“The World’s Most Famous Cuban Restaurant”) in Little Havana. It was a far cry from the throngs that clogged the streets during the Elian Gonzalez controversy 15 years ago, when Cuban Americans were infuriated that the Justice Department under President Clinton had intervened in a custody case and was forcibly repatriating the boy to his (communist, Castro-governed) homeland. | There was a small crowd of people gathering Wednesday night directly in front of the take-out window at Versailles (“The World’s Most Famous Cuban Restaurant”) in Little Havana. It was a far cry from the throngs that clogged the streets during the Elian Gonzalez controversy 15 years ago, when Cuban Americans were infuriated that the Justice Department under President Clinton had intervened in a custody case and was forcibly repatriating the boy to his (communist, Castro-governed) homeland. |
| “It was bound to happen sooner or later. The way I look at it, the embargo hasn’t done anything,” said Juana de Diego, 67, who was born in Cuba and came to America on a “freedom flight” in 1966. “Nothing has changed in 50 years. Evidently it didn’t work.” | |
| Cuban American political leaders, including possible presidential aspirant Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have denounced President Obama’s decision to move toward normalized diplomatic relations. They have variously called him a betrayer and the appeaser in chief. | Cuban American political leaders, including possible presidential aspirant Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), have denounced President Obama’s decision to move toward normalized diplomatic relations. They have variously called him a betrayer and the appeaser in chief. |
| The Senate is shifting to Republican control and is expected to vigorously oppose the lifting of the 54-year-old embargo. So this is an evolving story in which finality will come incrementally, and lurchingly, notwithstanding headlines such as the one bannered Thursday morning in USA Today: “Cuban Crisis Ended After 56 Years.” | The Senate is shifting to Republican control and is expected to vigorously oppose the lifting of the 54-year-old embargo. So this is an evolving story in which finality will come incrementally, and lurchingly, notwithstanding headlines such as the one bannered Thursday morning in USA Today: “Cuban Crisis Ended After 56 Years.” |
| What hasn’t ended is the rage here in Miami against the Castro regime and the abhorrence of a communist society that represses its citizens. But ideas about U.S. policy toward Cuba, and the best strategy for bringing democracy to the island, are more diverse and nuanced than they were 20 or 30 or 40 years ago. | What hasn’t ended is the rage here in Miami against the Castro regime and the abhorrence of a communist society that represses its citizens. But ideas about U.S. policy toward Cuba, and the best strategy for bringing democracy to the island, are more diverse and nuanced than they were 20 or 30 or 40 years ago. |
| A Florida International University poll of Cuban Americans conducted earlier this year showed that a majority favored ending the embargo against the island country. And more than 2 in 3 favored restoring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. | A Florida International University poll of Cuban Americans conducted earlier this year showed that a majority favored ending the embargo against the island country. And more than 2 in 3 favored restoring diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Cuba. |
| “Gradually there’s been a change in attitude across the board,” said Francisco Mora, 50, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at FIU. Mora, whose parents fled Cuba in 1961, served in the Obama administration in the Department of Defense. Most older Cuban Americans continue to have a hard-line attitude about relations with Cuba, but those under 35, particularly ones who came more recently to the United States, have closer ties with the island and favor the diplomatic thaw. | “Gradually there’s been a change in attitude across the board,” said Francisco Mora, 50, director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at FIU. Mora, whose parents fled Cuba in 1961, served in the Obama administration in the Department of Defense. Most older Cuban Americans continue to have a hard-line attitude about relations with Cuba, but those under 35, particularly ones who came more recently to the United States, have closer ties with the island and favor the diplomatic thaw. |
| “My own family members used to be very hard line and have increasingly moderated themselves over the last few years,” Mora said. | “My own family members used to be very hard line and have increasingly moderated themselves over the last few years,” Mora said. |
| The main objection to the embargo is pragmatic, not ideological. It hasn’t worked, say people like de Diego and her husband, Jose de Diego, 69, who were heading to dinner at Versailles. Jose de Diego came to Miami from his Cuban homeland in 1963. He said the thawing of relations puts the onus on the Castro regime to prove that its struggles are not due to U.S. policy. The ball, he said, is now in the court of the Castros. | |
| He said Miami’s Cuba community has evolved, in part simply because of the passage of time, and demographics: “The old generation, half of them are gone.” | He said Miami’s Cuba community has evolved, in part simply because of the passage of time, and demographics: “The old generation, half of them are gone.” |
| The younger Cuban Americans have a different attitude, said medical technician Olga Sanabria, 59, who came to the United States from Cuba in 1969: “They don’t even call themselves exiles.” | The younger Cuban Americans have a different attitude, said medical technician Olga Sanabria, 59, who came to the United States from Cuba in 1969: “They don’t even call themselves exiles.” |
| She had worked all day Wednesday without hearing the news, then in the early evening at her mother’s home saw the protest at Versailles. She immediately drove there. She was furious about Obama’s move. | She had worked all day Wednesday without hearing the news, then in the early evening at her mother’s home saw the protest at Versailles. She immediately drove there. She was furious about Obama’s move. |
| “He’s a socialist at heart,” she said. | “He’s a socialist at heart,” she said. |
| A few feet away, Francisco Navarro, 62, who came to America from Cuba 40 years ago, said, “This is going to divide the Cuban people.” He meant the ones in Miami. He’s a supporter of the new policy. | A few feet away, Francisco Navarro, 62, who came to America from Cuba 40 years ago, said, “This is going to divide the Cuban people.” He meant the ones in Miami. He’s a supporter of the new policy. |
| “There is no other way. We have been with this blockade for 50-something years, and nothing happened,” he said. | “There is no other way. We have been with this blockade for 50-something years, and nothing happened,” he said. |
| Precisely the opposite opinion came from Yurihe Goicoechea, 32, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at the age of 18: “We do not negotiate with terrorists. Never. At all. The Cuban government will have more money to oppress the Cuban people. I support the embargo.” | Precisely the opposite opinion came from Yurihe Goicoechea, 32, who came to the U.S. from Cuba at the age of 18: “We do not negotiate with terrorists. Never. At all. The Cuban government will have more money to oppress the Cuban people. I support the embargo.” |
| He went on: “I grew up in the system. I know how they are. They used to tell me how to dress, what to say, how to cut my hair. In Cuba there is no freedom.” | He went on: “I grew up in the system. I know how they are. They used to tell me how to dress, what to say, how to cut my hair. In Cuba there is no freedom.” |
| Sisay Balcia, 35, a construction worker, became agitated as he spoke. “Obama has betrayed us,” he said. “I want people, the young people to wake up. The young people are the ones who are going to take Castro down. We have to wake up! Wake up!” | Sisay Balcia, 35, a construction worker, became agitated as he spoke. “Obama has betrayed us,” he said. “I want people, the young people to wake up. The young people are the ones who are going to take Castro down. We have to wake up! Wake up!” |
| Away from the TV lights, Enrique Acosta, 52, who came in 1991, and Armando Sotolongo, 65, here since the age of 9, talked about Fidel Castro, the man who never seems to die. | Away from the TV lights, Enrique Acosta, 52, who came in 1991, and Armando Sotolongo, 65, here since the age of 9, talked about Fidel Castro, the man who never seems to die. |
| Sotolongo remembers that his family originally supported Castro but then realized he was a communist. | Sotolongo remembers that his family originally supported Castro but then realized he was a communist. |
| “When they came down from the mountains, my father said, ‘It doesn’t look good. We gotta get out,’ ” Sotolongo said. | “When they came down from the mountains, my father said, ‘It doesn’t look good. We gotta get out,’ ” Sotolongo said. |
| That was more than five decades ago, and Fidel is still there, an old and frail man who ceded his power to younger brother Raul. Why doesn’t Fidel die? | That was more than five decades ago, and Fidel is still there, an old and frail man who ceded his power to younger brother Raul. Why doesn’t Fidel die? |
| “We believe he has some kind of relationship with the demon. The devil,” Sotolongo said. | “We believe he has some kind of relationship with the demon. The devil,” Sotolongo said. |
| “He don’t die,” Acosta said. | “He don’t die,” Acosta said. |
| “He don’t die,” Sotolongo echoed. | “He don’t die,” Sotolongo echoed. |
| “Or maybe he died a long time ago and we don’t know,” Acosta said. | “Or maybe he died a long time ago and we don’t know,” Acosta said. |