Perhaps that’s why, when people ask her if she’s anxious if American companies like Starbucks will come to Havana and obliterate local culture, she shrugs off the question with typical Cuban nonchalance.
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Reversing generations of USA attempts to cut Cuba from the outside world, Mr Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama and their two daughters will arrive in Havana today for a three-day trip.
Before leaving the country, Obama will watch a baseball game between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Cuban national team.
The White House has made it clear President Obama will meet political dissidents, whether the Cuban authorities like it or not. Before he departed, Obama met with Cuban-Americans in a bid to garner support for his diplomatic thaw, which is still met with skepticism among many in the large Cuban diaspora in South Florida and elsewhere.
Police briefly detained more than 200 activists in the days before the visit, dissidents said. Several reported being subject to the same treatment before of Pope Francis’ arrival past year. He said he is used to such treatment and was soon released.
The first family will stay at the ornate USA ambassador’s residence, considered one of the most palatial diplomatic homes of its kind in Cuba.
Silva’s wildly popular Monday night show “Vivir del cuento” – roughly “Surviving By Your Wits” in Spanish – is unusually edgy programming for Cuban state television, known more for sports and dry public affairs shows, unadventurous news and roundtables, and recycled telenovelas, sitcoms and US crime serials. Their experiences in the one-party state help explain why some Cuban-Americans see Obama’s outreach as a disgraceful embrace of a government whose values betray much of what America stands for.
The message, Williams said, is that normalization allows USA and Cuban businesses to work together to share access to materials and best practices.
Rollan Marrero Gomez, a young graphic designer in Havana, says he wants to be optimistic about the change a visit from a United States president can instill.
Eidam, of Pinehurst, N.C. said her grandparents vacationed in Cuba before the US cut off ties in the wake of Fidel Castro’s rise to power, and that she’s always wanted to see it.
They are working to advance an agreement between the USA and Cuban agriculture industries to promote two-way trade, production, investments, supply chain, farmer training and research and development.
Mr. Obama’s aides and supporters in Congress brushed off such tough talk from Cuban officials.
Mr Obama and Mr Castro agreed in December 2014 to end decades of frozen relations that began when Cuba’s revolution overthrew a pro-US government in 1959.
Under current law, the US can sell food to Cuba, one of the few exceptions to the trade embargo.
Obama’s two-and-a-half day visit will start on Sunday.
Gustavo Machin is the Deputy Director of North America Affairs under the Cuban Foreign Ministry. His televised speech at the Grand Theater of Havana will lay out a vision of greater freedoms and economic opportunity, White House aides said. Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba for 12 authorized purposes. A USA embassy in Cuba re-opened last August.
Obama will be meeting with Cuban entrepreneurs, or what are called “cuentapropistas”, to hear their experiences. The president will not meet with Fidel Castro.
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Harsh restrictions on political rights remain, but Raúl, who’s 84 years old, kept only part of his promise.
