A year after US-Cuba thaw, change too slow for some

Cuba's tourism and foreign trade are booming a year after the decision to restore diplomatic ties with Washington, but ordinary Cubans and some in the United States complain change is slow.

Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement by the two countries that they would restore ties severed during the Cold War.

The countries actually did so in July and have opened embassies in each other's capitals.

The Stars and Stripes has since flown from the new US embassy in Havana and bars and hotels in the city have been full.

In the latest step in the historic thaw, the United States announced Thursday the resumption of regular flights to and from Cuba.

Authorities forecast foreign tourist visits to Cuba have increased 17.6 percent this year to a total 3.2 million.
"It was very good news for my business," said Vladimir Zamora, 32, who runs a restaurant in the historic district of Havana.

But the 50-year-old US trade embargo against Cuba remains in force, as does a ban on American tourists traveling there.

Many Cubans are still struggling with daily shortages and salaries of about 20 dollars a month.

When the announcement was made a year ago, "I felt great happiness. I thought things were going to change," said Julio Miro, a retired man of 83.

"But so far nothing has," he told AFP.
At the same time the restoring of ties has driven thousands of Cubans to emigrate to the United States.

The number surged this year by 78 percent to more than 43,000, according to a study by the Pew Research Center.

They fear the normalizing of relations will end the special US residency rights granted to Cubans since 1966.

From the US point of view, trade restrictions place US firms at a competitive disadvantage and cost the US economy an estimated $2 billion a year in exports, US lawmakers said Wednesday.

US President Barack Obama himself called on Thursday for Congress to lift the embargo, calling it the "legacy of a failed policy".
- Diversifying economic ties -

After decades of Communist rule, Cuba's government is working to reform the economy gradually.

"The atmosphere of relaxation makes it easier for Cuba to diversify its economic relations beyond just Venezuela," its main ally and trade partner, said Jorge Duany, an expert at the Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute.

But some analysts warn the island's state bureaucracy combined with the lingering trade embargo are still holding Cuba back.

"Cuba must try to make economic reforms so that it can be seen to be returning to the world economy," said Peter Schechter, a Latin America specialist with the Atlantic Council, a US analysis group.

Observers are also waiting to see human rights reforms. That is a key issue for the United States in advancing relations but Havana says it is a matter of national sovereignty.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein, on Tuesday said there had been hundreds of "arbitrary arrests" in Cuba in recent weeks.

Washington and Havana said they would work to resolve sensitive issues over the coming months.

"There are some common points of interest which can be agreed upon in the short term, such as the fight against drug- and people-trafficking, public health, natural disasters and environmental protection," said Duany.

But issues such as the trade embargo, human rights and the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay are expected to take longer, he said.

"You should not expect them to resolve the big disagreements quickly."

Cuba's ruling Communist Party holds its general congress in April.

It is expected to yield an electoral reform ahead of polls in 2018, after which President Raul Castro has said he will leave power.
Source: AFP