Monday, April 13, 2009

Al Fin

Todas las expectativas que existian sobre la presidencia de Obama han sido cumplidas. A pesar de tener un mandato sin igual desde los tiempos del Presidente F. D. Roosevelt, Obama no se ha convertido en el dictador que algunos creen pudiese ser. Dios quiera que no.

Revolucion Obama in Cuba

That is what Cubans call the 2008 Presidential Campaign. People are excited about it. Since the Kennedy presidency, none other has captured the minds and the imaginations of so many people of this global village. As the American President Obama will be responsible for the policies and agendas of this nation. He will be responsible for maintaining the primacy of US in the world. Yet, many people seem to believe there will be something special about Obama’s Presidency shall he win in November.
When Obama declared in Miami that he would meet with Fidel or Raul without any preconceived agenda, people took pause. This approach is a significant shift from the 46 years old policies of embargo, and political opposition towards the small island.
The politics of Southern Florida and elsewhere are riding on the continuity of the Cuban-US antagonistic relationship. Somehow, the end of the embargo, a once unthinkable event, may happen; and these two countries with a long history of discord could be friends again.
The embargo has benefited the dictatorship of the Castro’s brothers; it has provided their bankrupt ideology with a mighty enemy. This embargo has fueled a whole political economy in Southern Florida. Also has in all of South America, painted the US as the local bully of this hemisphere.
All this can change and we hope it does. Lifting the embargo and finding the mechanisms to resolve the disputes regarding properties and nationalized industries is a step in the right direction. The abrogation of the embargo will ease the restrictions for Cubans to obtain the credit needed to purchase the products they need to propel their economy. That is a start, a good start.
There is no need to demand free elections, coming from George W. Bush that is an anathema, Let Cubans deal with their internal problems and decide their form of government. Let Revolucion Obama begin and Revolucion Fidel end; I think his world is tired of dictators elected or otherwise.