Miami's Cuban-Americans Discuss The Obama Factor

The Obama factor: that's what Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez, the president of the Cuban-American National Foundation, is excited about these days. This week's meetings between a handful of U.S. lawmakers and the Castro brothers in Havana is just window dressing in his mind--the prelude to larger opportunities for change in Cuba.

That excitement is borne of news that President Obama is set to lift travel restrictions for Cuban-Americans wanting to visit relatives on the island. He will also lift restrictions on sending money to needy loved ones. Both moves are a reversal of Bush Administration policy. 

Hernandez says, "We are going to be able to visit our families, to send the message of freedom to our families in Cuba, to actually support them. We are the ones who can help the Cuban people become independent from the Cuban regime."Those are high hopes, perhaps too high given how many times they have been dashed over the 50 year life of the Castro regime's ironfisted rule.  Yet, times are changing. 

 "The Obama factor", as Hernandez describes it, involves a new U.S. president who cannot easily be defined or vilified by a government long practiced at the art of blaming U.S. policy for shortcomings in the island. 

Add to that the reality that Fidel Castro is not the vibrant, central figure of Cuban life anymore. That doesn't mean he's not still involved in policy decisions. Indeed many Cuba watchers suggest he still has strong influence in that regard.

Be that as it may, it is Fidel's brother Raul who now must navigate official relations-or lack thereof-with a new U.S. administration.

The longstanding U.S. trade embargo against Cuba is not going away, and neither is the resistance, analysts say, by the Castro government for any real, substantial nod toward political and press freedom on the island. 

All of that may sound like a non-starter for any attempts at a more 'open' relationship between the two countries. For the moment, though, Miami's exile community leaders are excited about the possibility , however small, to energize ordinary Cubans on the island. 

Any real change, Hernandez notes, starts from the "bottom up."  It is a long climb, but a growing number of people on both sides of the Florida Straits may be ready to try a first step.