Should U.S. normalize relations with Cuba?

Jimmy2 · January 13, 2010

Blown up bridges gave Gainesville photographer Randy Batista a front seat to a revolution.

Now, more than 50 years after Fidel Castro came down from the mountains to take control of Cuba, Batista and other Gainesville Cuban-Americans say it's time for the United States to put history in its place and open the door to normalized relations with the Communist island nation that is so close - and so closely linked - to Florida.

"There are still the hard-core guys in Miami, but I think for the most part people realize these people have suffered enough. Let's open this thing up," said Batista, who has been back to Cuba three times since he left at age 10. "The suffering, the lack of food, lines to get coupon books for rice and beans - they have been through years of hardship."

Polls by Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute involving South Florida Cuban-Americans of all ages shows increasing support for the easing of trade and travel restrictions to Cuba.

In 1991, for instance, 73.8 percent of those polled said they strongly favor tightening the economic embargo against Cuba. In 2007, the last year in which the ongoing poll was taken, that number was down to 57.5 percent.

In 1993, 30.6 percent of those polled said they strongly favor allowing medicine sales to Cuba. In 2007, 55.9 favored it. The polls can be found at

Cuba was under the rule of Fulgencio Batista when the revolution began fomenting. Under Batista, Havana became a gambling haven, and Batista was said to have profited from the operations of American organized crime that was involved in the gambling.

Meanwhile, much of the Cuban population remained poor, leading to dissatisfaction and unrest.

Castro and the revolutionaries progressively stepped up attacks against the Cuban army. Castro was based in the Sierra Maestra, a mountain range at the eastern part of Cuba.

Various areas eventually came under the control of the guerrillas. Fulgencio Batista fled on Jan. 1, 1959, and Castro arrived in Havana days after.

Randy Batista, who is no relation to the former dictator, grew up on a farm in Oriente, a region that included the Sierra Maestra. He remembers guerrilla supporters coming to his home to ask his father for money.

Randy Batista and other family members had been visiting his grandparents in the United States leading up to the revolution and returned to Havana in November, when the revolution was in full fury. He had to stay in Havana because bridges in the countryside to his home had been blown up.

"We were in Havana when Castro marched in. During this period, shootings were happening where they were basically purging the city of some of the Batista guys," he said. "You would hear gunshots at night. One apartment over from where we were, by happenstance a guy sits up on the edge of his bed and literally a bullet just came in and killed this guy, a random bullet."

Gainesville Realtor Francisco Rabell, who left Cuba in April 1959, said many Cubans at the time had hope that Castro would be good for Cuba.

"I would say that 98 percent of the people were with him in the moment. No doubt at that moment the people were with him. Then he was killing people and getting more power. The whole thing changed," said Rabell, who worked for the Cuban government at the time. "I left in April when people told me that communism was coming to Cuba with Fidel. I didn't believe it too much, but they convinced me to leave. I got the permit and left."

Castro's government allied itself with the Soviet Union. Over the years many Cubans fled, creating sizable populations in Miami and elsewhere in South Florida.

Exiles were generally strongly anti-Castro. U.S. policies have included embargoes and travel restrictions, some of which were strengthened by President George W. Bush.

Under President Barack Obama, who spoke of a "new era" in relations with Cuba, trade and travel restrictions have been loosened. Cuban-Americans with close family still in Cuba are allowed to visit more often and can send more money to relatives.

Fidel Castro, who turned power over to his brother Raul Castro in 2008 due to his failing health, initially praised the new U.S. leader.

But relations have since soured, with both sides blaming the other for the postponement of meetings in Havana scheduled for December to discuss immigration issues.

In November, the State Department denounced an assault allegedly inflicted by plainclothes Cuban state security agents on the island's top dissident blogger, Yoani Sanchez.

Uva de Aragon, associate director of FIU's Cuban Research Institute, said some groups strongly favor a hardline approach with Cuba but added an increasing number of people support changes.

"There is a group that grows within the time we've been doing the polls that is more for opening and for negotiations. That group mainly grows with new arrivals who have family members (in Cuba) and with younger people," de Aragon said. "The group that wants to maintain a harder position are mainly people who arrived in the earlier years."

Herminia D. Ibaceta and her husband, Raul, say they believe that as long as the Castro brothers are in power, nothing will change for those who live in Cuba.

The Ibacetas remained in Cuba for five years after Castro took over, hoping his promise to improve life for everyone would come to pass.

Raul Ibaceta and a cousin ran a combination hardware and clothing store in Madruga, a small town southeast of Havana. Herminia Ibaceta was a school teacher.

One day, Castro representatives showed up at his store and told Ibaceta they were claiming his business for the government. He could either turn in the keys, all the merchandise, accounts payable and cash on hand, or go to jail.

"They arrested my husband and his cousin," said Herminia Ibaceta. "The chief of police told them, 'If you turn over the store, you will go free.' So my husband agreed."

The Ibacetas decided then to seek visas to leave, getting the necessary documentation ready for their parents so they could eventually send for them. They obtained visas to Madrid, Spain, where they spent two months before receiving their U.S. visas.

The couple arrived in New York, where family awaited, in January 1964 with only the clothes on their backs. "We had to leave everything," said Herminia Ibaceta, who moved to Gainesville with her husband in 2007. "(Government officials) had done an accounting of everything in our home and had sealed it."

"In my opinion, only when (the Castros) leave will there be a democratic opening," said Raul Ibaceta.

University of Florida student Joshua Espinosa, president of the UF Cuban-American Student Association, said many young people are as strongly anti-Castro as older generations.

Espinosa added that many young Cuban-Americans communicate with their peers on the island via the Internet and other technologies. The Internet has made Cuban blogger Sanchez a hero to many and has earned her wide acclaim, including praise from President Obama.

Meanwhile, a U.S. student organization called Raices de Esperanza, or Roots of Hope, aims to empower young Cubans to set their own futures.

"It was the youth that brought (Castro) into power and, by the same token, I think it is going to be the same group of people - the revolutionary sentiment - that is going to bring the regime down," Espinosa said.

I would say that 98 percent of the people were with him in the moment. No doubt at that moment the people were with him. Then he was killing people and getting more power. The whole thing changed," said Rabell, who worked for the Cuban government at the time. "I left in April when people told me that communism was coming to Cuba with Fidel. I didn't believe it too much, but they convinced me to leave. I got the permit and left."