Cubans Greet Latest Step in U.S. Thaw With Hope Tempered by Reality
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Version 0 of 1. MEXICO CITY — At the building along Havana’s seafront that will soon become America’s first embassy in Cuba in more than 50 years, life on Wednesday was yet unchanged: A lone Cuban flag flew in the forest of poles that obscures the building’s featureless facade — an official rebuke of the United States. In a nearby square, a throng of Cubans waited in the broiling heat for appointments with American consular officers, part of the lengthy process of applying for a visa to visit or emigrate. But amid the daily business at the building — currently operated as the United States Interests Section, a more limited diplomatic outpost than an embassy — Cubans pondered what change its new status, and the new era of engagement with the United States, would bring to lives marked by economic hardship and stunted prospects. “This will benefit the country,” said Roberto, a parking attendant who minds cars near the interests section, giving only one name because he was discussing politics. “Maybe, I don’t know,” he added skeptically, “it will eventually benefit me.” The euphoria that prompted Cubans to toot their horns and wave flags when President Obama announced on Dec. 17 — known in Cuba as 17D — that the United States would restore diplomatic relations with Cuba has given way to a tempered hope that an influx of Americans, and the eventual end of the trade embargo, will help pry open the economy and the political system. “People realize that the Americans aren’t going to solve their problems, and nor is the government” of Cuba, said Regina Coyula, a blogger who for several years worked for Cuban state security. Dec. 17 was “like a firework display,” Ms. Coyula said, adding: “Everyone watched them. Everyone thought they were beautiful. And then they went back to their lives.” Some, though, were jubilant on Wednesday, when the nations announced plans to reopen embassies in each other’s capitals. “We’ve been waiting all our lives for this, and it’s very welcome,” said Carmen Álvarez, 76, who was walking with friends near the interests section. “We’re waiting with our arms and our minds wide open.” Since Mr. Obama eased restrictions on remittances and on Americans’ travel to the island as part of the December announcement, Havana has become a whirl of business delegations, curious Americans, celebrities and journalists. They are taking selfies, staging fashion shoots, exploring possibilities for trade and investment, and hoping to see the island before it becomes like any other Caribbean destination. The number of American visitors grew 36 percent in the first four months of the year compared with the same period last year, according to The Associated Press. American art lovers and collectors filled galleries, art shows, museums and hotels in record numbers in June, when Havana hosted its 12th art biennial, several tour leaders said. Rihanna has been to Havana. Conan O’Brien. Paris Hilton. “Things are going really well,” said Yosvany Coca Montes de Oca, 38, who began listing his one-bedroom apartment in Havana with Airbnb, the online house-sharing service, in April. Mr. Coca, a former fitness instructor, said he used to get four or five Americans staying at his house every month. For the past two months, he has had more than 15 and has been showered with reservations, he said. But Mr. Coca acknowledged that he was part of a privileged economic circle that was feeling the immediate benefit of new American interest in Cuba. Many Cubans, he said, felt little change. “For ordinary people, it doesn’t have a direct impact,” he said. “People are mainly concerned with getting by day to day.” Just as economic changes introduced by President Raúl Castro over the past five years have benefited some Cubans much more than others, the immediate benefits of the diplomatic thaw are much more palpable to some Cubans — the new “haves” of the entrepreneurial class — than to others, Cubans said. “There are two Cubas, and they go back beyond Dec. 17,” said Ms. Coyula, the blogger. With American money being spent in private restaurants and homes and on car services, those Cubans who are doing well will do even better, she said, adding, “The difference between those Cubas is only going to grow.” Overtures by American businesses are exposing the roots of Cuba’s economic malaise, Cubans say. Recent visits by officials from Google and other American technology companies, for example, have led to demands by Cuban technology workers, bloggers and journalists of varying political allegiances to build a decent Internet infrastructure, whether with the help of the Americans, the Chinese or others. Cuba, not by coincidence, they believe, has leaked two official plans to expand Internet access. “The authorities say they need to prioritize health, education,” said Carlos Alberto Pérez, a blogger who supports the revolution but has criticized the lack of Internet access. “But then a company like Google comes along and says it is prepared to build a whole infrastructure. What can you say?” Aside from short-term economic benefits, some Cubans said they believed that their government would resist American pressure for a more open economic and political system. Elizardo Sánchez, president of the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, said short-term arrests of dissidents, a tactic that Cuban security officials often use to suppress protest, dropped in the two months after the Dec. 17 announcement, but rose to more than 600 in May. He said Cuban security officials were hypervigilant during the art biennial, which ended on June 22, detaining Gorki Águila, a Cuban punk musician, on May 23 as he protested the detention since December of a graffiti artist, Danilo Maldonado Machado, known as El Sexto. The government is keen to communicate that a diplomatic opening should not be equated with political change, Ms. Coyula said. “It’s like they’re saying, ‘Don’t get overexcited,’ ” she said. |