Obama in Cuban History

Obama in Cuban History / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva
Posted on March 28, 2016

Cubanet, Miriam Leiva, Havana, 28 March 2016 – Barack Obama's stay in
Havana between the 19th and 22nd of March was described as historic
before it even took place. In reality, it was the cusp of a new cycle in
the history of Cuba, begun in 2009, when the president of the United
States issued the first Executive Order in his proactive "people to
people" policy, allowing Cuban families to reconnect after several
decades of suffering, and improving the precarious living conditions of
the islanders by allowing family and friends abroad to send larger
remittances.

Soon people from all walks of life were crossing the 'bridge' across the
Florida Straits, to sink into an embrace of Cuban and American
friendship. But the Obama tsunami became unstoppable on 17 December 2014
with the announcement of the reestablishment of diplomatic relations and
the reopening of embassies in Havana and Washington. The measures taken
fostered openness, not a neutron bomb, and disintegrated the pretexts
used by the Cuban leaders to justify the failures of their capricious
programs, and to justify the repression.

Barack Obama is making history in Cuba, far beyond the history of
relations between the United States and Cuba. He did not come to make
war, like in 1898, nor with the gunboats that escorted President
Coolidge in 1928, but with a wide smile, simple words, familiar but
forceful, and bringing the possibility of change with a country that is
politically, economically and socially devastated.

His speeches reached all Cuban through live television, and were
certainly recorded by many who circulate them and cite them to exemplify
every circumstance. He addressed the thorniest issues respectfully and
didactically, from the concepts of democracy and human rights to the
need for internal openness, and the benefits of relations to both
countries. For the first time a president publicly expressed his support
for the peaceful opposition and the persecuting government had to allow
the fruitful meeting the president held with 13 representatives from
Cuba's independent civil society at the United States Embassy.

Obama appeared on the most popular comedy show on TV in a country where
jokes about the leaders can lead to criminal charges of contempt; he
walked around Havana, whose residents were the beneficiaries of repairs
to the destruction accumulated over decades; he spread joy with true
spontaneity; and above all, he presented great challenges to the
national leaders, the only impediments to national progress.

The immense impact of the Rolling Stones' formidable concert did not
cloud people's thinking and diminish the Obama effect. The Communist
Party of Cuba will hold its Seventh Congress on April 16-18, in an
unprecedented national atmosphere, with a population fed up with
insecurity with regards to their daily needs, uncompleted promises,
delays and slogans, with demands for real changes – for now, still in a
low voice.

Barack Obama does not make changes in Cuba, but he is facilitating
Cubans realizing changes. The imprint of the president of the United
States will endure, contributing to making Cuban history, and he can be
expected, at the end of his term in January of 2017, to continue
interacting with Cubans for many years.

Translator's note: Miriam Leiva was among the 13 civil society activists
who met with President Obama in Cuba.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Miriam Leiva, born Villa Clara, Cuba, 1947. An independent journalist
since 1995. Vice President of the Manuel Marquez Sterling Society of
Journalists. Founding member of the Ladies in White in March 2003.
Diplomat and guest lecturer at the Higher Institute of International
Relations. Official of the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs, from which
she was expelled in 1992. Currently maintains the blog Cuban
Reconciliacion www.reconciliacioncubana.com and is a translator and
teacher of English.

e-mail: leivachepe@gmail.com

Source: Obama in Cuban History / Cubanet, Miriam Leiva | Translating
Cuba -
http://translatingcuba.com/obama-in-cuban-history-cubanet-miriam-leiva/