Cubans look fondly to U.S. as talks to resume relations start
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/21/us-cuba-usa-mood-idUSKBN0KU1ZX20150121(Reuters) - Miguel Barnet, one of Cuba's most prominent Communist Party intellectuals, fondly recalls his teenage years in the 1950s, attending one of Havana's elite private schools, singing in the Episcopal church choir and performing in American musicals.
"I love North American culture, I was shaped by it," Barnet, a 74-year-old noted poet and anthropologist who is also a member of Cuba's powerful Council of State, said at his office in Havana, where images of Cuba's revolutionary leaders, Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara, adorn the walls.
He is not alone. After more than five decades of hostility from Washington, most Cubans firmly oppose U.S. policies and the long economic embargo against their communist-led country but they admire U.S. culture.
Many have relatives living in the United States, Cuban teenagers listen more to rap and hip hop than to home-grown son and salsa, and baseball is the country's most popular sport.
Following U.S. President Barack Obama's historic shift in Cuba policy last month, the two governments are meeting in Havana this week to set about restoring diplomatic relations.
Cuba's leaders have said little about the negotiations ahead, but they seem ready to make up.
"We never burned an American flag in Cuba," said Eusebio Leal, 72, another leading intellectual and the official historian of the city of Havana. "We Cubans don't have our hands soaked in American blood. There is no anti-American hatred here."
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Our shift in Cuba policy has the potential to end a legacy of mistrust in our hemisphere; removes a phony excuse for restrictions in Cuba; stands up for democratic values; and extends the hand of friendship to the Cuban people.
And this year, Congress should begin the work of ending the embargo...
to brooklynite:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014993525
Already, some in Congress and others in the various states are moving forward with this thaw in relations.
And that video made me want to visit there, too! Enjoy your trip to that beautiful island nation!
Some of the beaches just scream come here to me.I met some cuban brick masons from the boat lift people and they were great guys that did stunning work.
snip//
"Everyone wants to see what the future will bring. They can taste the consumer benefits in the future," said Camilo Martinez, who runs a six-room bed and breakfast for foreign tourists in Havana and recently invested in a roof top bar catering to late night revelers."
snip//
"..We have to be very careful. The right wing in Miami will try and destroy anything that Obama has done."
Mahalo
that so many of the Cubans and normal Americans have the same problem - the right wing in Miami (well and the rest of 'em).
That unites us for sure!
You might like it there as an islander 
though you'd have to say "Que bola" instead of Mahalo!
It is sooo Interesting.. Thanks Obama!
