Ahead of Cuomo's Trade Visit, Cubans Anticipate Economic Benefits

When Gov. Andrew Cuomo visits Cuba on a trade mission next month, he will see a country crippled by the U.S. trade embargo and a population optimistic that their plight will be eased by improved relations with their powerful neighbor to the north. 

The signs of shortage in the island nation are hard to miss. Many buildings in Havana, Cuba’s capital, are literally crumbling. Taxi drivers convey passengers along the city’s pothole-ridden streets in 1950s-era Fords, Buicks and Chevrolets. Outside the city center and in rural areas, many Cuban travelers clamber onto crowded old trucks or simply try to hitch rides.

Even for those who receive remittances from American relatives or benefit from a lucrative tourism gig, there is not much to buy. Large stores that appear to have changed little in decades have a limited assortment of products and lots of empty shelves. On one Havana street, a long line of Cubans lingered outside a state-run telecommunications storefront on one side, while on the other, a crowd of locals waited to get their rations of eggs and other staples. The state provides universal healthcare and education, but Cubans say that their paltry wages still make it hard to get by.

So when President Barack Obama made a surprise announcement in December that he would move toward normalizing relations and expanding trade with the Communist country, Cubans cheered the news. New trade missions, such as Cuomo’s, are bolstering those hopes—even if questions about New York’s governor drew only blank stares from a number of Cubans.

“We are hoping that the negotiations between Cuba and the U.S. government go well,” Orestes Leon, an 83-year-old who makes balloon animals in Havana’s Parque Central, told City & State. “There are many needs here, a lot of hunger, and the food is very bad.”

Another local only gave his name as Roberto, saying that he feared that he or his family would get into trouble with the police if he was seen speaking with an American reporter. Roberto, 33, bemoaned the lack of food, clothing and other products in his country and complained that the economy lags behind other countries.

“The Cuban people need the change,” he said. “In Cuba, it is not possible to get anything, unlike in other parts of the world. In Cuba, the people only eat chicken and pork. Every shop has nothing. The people work and work, and they get nothing.”

Yet despite the economic challenges, other Cubans staunchly defend the leadership of Fidel Castro and his brother Raul, who took over in 2006. A university student named Carlos, who also declined to give his last name, said that his government makes it “easy” for people, thanks to free healthcare and other services. By contrast, the United States has “the most terrorists in the world,” Carlos claimed.

“I think the improving relations with the United States will be good for us,” Carlos added. “We have the right to live in peace with them. We need them to respect our government.”

Senior Correspondent Jon Lentz traveled to Cuba earlier this month to interview residents about the normalizing of relations with the U.S. ahead of Cuomo’s trade mission.