Cuba has welcomed some of Mr.Obama's proposals and Raul Castro has offered to free political dissidents in exchange for the release of five convicted Cuban spies in US prisons as a gesture to pave the way for a meeting with the incoming president.
Fifty years on, the revolution's legacy is mixed, correspondents say
Mr Obama is unlikely to make such a deal, but Marifeli Perez-Stable, writing in the Miami Herald in December, suggested that it may be possible to exchange the "Five Heroes" (as they are known in Cuba) for US fugitives living in Cuba.
Rarely before has the potential for change been so tangible, in US policy towards Cuba but also in the attitudes inside the island itself.
After a devastating hurricane season, a worldwide economic downturn and a drop in oil prices, which impacts how much support Cuba can get from its oil-rich ally Venezuela, the Castro brothers, both of whom are old, may be more malleable.
Mr Obama is expected to travel to Trinidad and Tobago in April to attend the Summits of the Americas.
There have been calls for him to announce the policy shift towards Cuba ahead of the gathering so that the meeting can be the start of a new era in Washington's ties with Latin America.
(Above Excerpt from BBC)
As President Obama tours the Caribbean and begins to associate with Africans in the Diaspora who are and have been heads of nations since the fall of slavery, it is possible that this "connection" can lead to a workable solution to what John F. Kennedy called the "Cuban Problem." I liked Mr. Kennedy, but I also support the right of nations to be allowed to enage in self sovereignty, to rule according to the wishes of the people. The real reality is that if Cubans were that disatisfied with Fidel Castro--he would have been long gone.
The fact is that even the old ultra-right elite, realize that too much time has passed to go in and attempt a revolution with a population that for three generations has known only one leader.
Let's hope that President Obama is able to walk us through this rocky road, with the support of the International community, as we already know, any thing he does or say pro-Cuba will be met with heinous remarks from the Republican Party.
Posted By: Marta Fernandez
Thursday, March 12th 2009 at 5:40PM
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