‘This Is Part Of Their Plan’

Posted Feb 19, 2008 by Karen Branch-Brioso

Updated Feb 19, 2008 at 03:53 PM

At Arco Iris Restaurant in West Tampa, Pepe Noval of Clearwater is anticipating his lunch of fried rice and fish.

But that’s not why he can’t contain his glee.

He’s been feeling a sense of anticipation since early this morning, when he woke up with a “wow” to the news that Fidel Castro was stepping down.

“I’m excited,” says Noval, 57, who left Havana with his mother and three sisters in 1961. “I wish that things would change, and I hope it happens within my lifetime.”

He acknowledges there have been recent changes, with university students in Cuba voicing their concerns to high-ranking officials. That they want to be able to speak up without fear. That they want to travel abroad freely.

“Before, nobody could say anything. You couldn’t talk to your brother or anybody for fear of what would happen,” Noval says. “It’s going in the right direction. [Although] I don’t think it will be that quick. If Fidel dies tomorrow, everything’s going to take some time. You’re talking about [a system in place] 40, 50 years.”

More recent arrivals from Cuba seem more cautious.

Gustavo Gonzalez, 47, left Cuba on a raft in October 2006.

Now a waiter at Arco Iris, his brother Jorge Gonzalez’s restaurant, Gustavo said Castro’s departure from power doesn’t change the system.

“I don’t see any change,” Gonzalez says. “It’s the same government.”

Annia Cuba, 38, left Pinar del Rio, Cuba, in 2005 with her two daughters when her name came up in a visa lottery. She feels the same as Gonzalez.

“In the end, it’s going to be the same,” Cuba says. “I don’t think it means anything. I hope to God it would change things, but this was all planned out. This is part of their plan to prepare the people of Cuba psychologically.”

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They Gather And Speculate

Posted Feb 19, 2008 by Karen Branch-Brioso

Updated Feb 19, 2008 at 03:14 PM

On the edge of the Florida Bakery parking lot in West Tampa, the men are gathering. The voices are rising.

“There’s a lot of talk,” says Ibrain Navarro, 44, a West Tampa construction worker, in summing up the reaction to the news this morning of Fidel Castro stepping down.

“Maybe Cuba will get a little bit better. Surely they’ll be change,” Navarro adds hopefully.

He thinks Raul Castro has been in secret talks on changing relations with the United States.

“I think he’s already working on it,” Navarro says. “He’s intelligent.”

Wilfredo Baratutes, 38, a tow-truck operator from West Tampa, isn’t so hopeful.

“It won’t change anything, because Fidel resigned but his brother is still there – and he’s worse,” says Baratutes, whose parents and siblings live in the neighborhood he left 19 years ago on the outskirts of Havana. “I wish it would change things. But I don’t think so.”

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‘Raul Doesn’t Have The Charisma That Fidel Had’

Posted Feb 19, 2008 by Karen Branch-Brioso

Updated Feb 19, 2008 at 03:09 PM

Maria Espinosa, who left Matanzas, Cuba, for Tampa nine years ago, said she doesn’t expect change in Cuba right away. But she expects change.

If Raul Castro goes from provisional president to elected president on Sunday, she says, there will have to be change:

“My very personal opinion is Raul doesn’t have the charisma that Fidel had, who could convince people of things. [Raul] can’t speak two hours like Fidel would, because the people would just leave. He’ll have to the sympathy of people. He’ll have to be more flexible, because he can’t impose things the way that Fidel did.”

But the change won’t be immediate, she said.

“Something’s going to happen, but it’s not going to be soon,” said Espinosa, 45, an employment specialist with Lutheran Services of Florida. “The way of thinking and the government structure is such that it can’t change from one day to the next. I think there will be changes in the long term.”

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Castro’s Presence Felt, Regardless

Posted Feb 19, 2008 by José Patiño Girona

Updated Feb 19, 2008 at 03:04 PM

Mario Quevedo said that even though Fidel Castro is relinquishing power, the system will remain the same.

“There will be cosmetic changes – perhaps a little economic change,” said Quevedo, a Tampa resident who came to the United States in 1961 from Cuba. But “not the fundamental changes the Cuban people need.”

Quevedo said the Cuban people need the opportunity to experience democracy, liberty, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.

Quevedo said the new president – who he predicts will be Raul Castro—and his inner circle can’t waiver from the party line.

“As long as he [Castro] is alive, they can’t go too far from the line,” said Quevedo, 63. “As long as he is alive, Raul [Castro, his brother] will not do anything that isn’t accepted or blessed by Fidel.”

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‘No Threat To Us’

Posted Feb 19, 2008 by Keith Morelli

Updated Feb 19, 2008 at 01:32 PM

Rex Rodriguez lounges in a chair of a patio of a sandwich shop in West Tampa, listening to his boss, Mike Mauricio, talk about Cuba and the news that longtime dictator Fidel Castro is stepping down.

The chance to make nice with Cuba is here, the 65-year-old businessman says.

“Fidel Castro ruled as Fidel Castro,” he says. “Raul Castro rules by committee. Now is the opportunity to better relationships and open travel.”

Sagging U.S. markets can be boosted by lifting the trade embargo and the island nation can once again become a friendly neighbor, he says.

“They are absolutely no threat to us,” he says.

The last time he was there, he noticed Chinese and French vehicles, many of which were broken down, littering the streets. The buses that were running were old GMC buses, he said.

The cabs around Havana were French Peugeots, Rodriguez says. “I saw about 18 of them broken down at the airport.”

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