By Andres Schipani in Miami
Published: January 16 2011 23:41 | Last updated: January 16 2011 23:41
In Miami's Little Havana, the heartland of Cuba's exile community, the
mood is tense.
"This is outrageous, outrageous," says Miguel Zaldívar, a Cuban exile
who fled Fidel Castro's regime in the 1960s to come to Miami.
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Obama administration relaxes Cuba restrictions - Jan-15
Cuba bows to pressure to reform its economy - Dec-13
US-Cuba relations face setback after poll - Nov-10
Cuba unveils a capitalist revolution - Nov-01
Man in the News: Raúl Castro - Sep-17
Editorial: Sea of pink slips on red isle - Sep-16
"The Castros keep throwing candies at the Cubans trying to show the
Americans they are changing things, to keep them happy, and now the
Obama administration believes these are 'real' changes. It's nonsense,
nonsense. There should not be any contact whatsoever with those
unnameable [Fidel and Raúl Castro]," he fumes, sipping a strong Cuban
coffee at the renowned Café Versailles, an anti-Castro stronghold.
The cause of Mr Zaldívar's anger, as well as that of many other Cuban
exiles, is the recent decision by the Obama administration to relax
restrictions on travel and remittances to Cuba. On Friday, the US
announced that although a long-standing embargo – imposed by President
John F. Kennedy in 1962 after Cuba nationalised the businesses and
property of US citizens – remained in place, US students, religious and
cultural groups would be allowed to visit Cuba and US citizens would be
permitted to send remittances up to $2,000 year to Cubans who were not
government or Communist party members.
Cuban-Americans at the heart of Washington echo Mr Zaldívar's comments.
"Loosening these regulations will not help foster a pro-democracy
environment in Cuba," said Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, the Florida Republican
and new chairwoman of the House foreign affairs committee – who was once
labelled the "ferocious she-wolf" by Fidel Castro.
The US move follows measures taken by Raúl Castro, the Cuban president,
last September to relax government control over the economy. During the
first three months of this year, 500,000 workers will be taken off the
public payroll, with most expected to become self-employed. The goal is
to cut 1.8m public sector jobs in coming years, representing a quarter
of the Cuban workforce.
In the light of this, some Cuban-American business figures welcome the
changes.
"The Americans will now enjoy more freedom to travel to Cuba, and with
the changes [under way] in Cuba, this might mean a huge opportunity for
people to start checking potential future business down there," says
John Cabañas, who owns C and T Chartered, the largest charter airline
flying from the US to Cuba. "To Cubans, this might mean a whole lot of
new travellers that will disburse hard currency and will spark an
exchange of ideas."
Mr Cabañas's own business, along with other airlines, will also benefit.
He operates an average of 10 weekly flights between Miami, New York and
Havana but says that in two weeks' time – when the provisions become
active – he will start flying out of Las Vegas, Newark, Atlanta and San
Juan.
George Montalván, a Cuban-American economist and micro-lending expert,
says: "This is all good." Not only will the changes lead to more visits
to Cuba by Americans, "but remittances might also increase, which might
[provide] soft lending to potential entrepreneurs that otherwise have no
access to hard currency".
He adds: "What is missing now is a proper institutionalisation, to find
a way to channel those remittances towards investment and not consumption."
"The Cuban-Americans sitting in Congress might not lower their [voices],
but they will see themselves pressured by the evolving business and
political reality of Cuba and the newer generations of Cuban-Americans,"
says Mr Cabañas. "This is a golden opportunity for everyone."
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c90682c6-21a7-11e0-9e3b-00144feab49a.html#axzz1D10dqzlF
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