Barack Obama's visit, the Rolling Stones concert and the Tampa Bay Rays baseball game, are currently topics of discussion in the streets of Havana. Whether in a taxi, gathered at work, taking the kids to school, or in the queue to buy bread, there, where you least expect it, you find talk of the U.S. President, the British musicians or the Major League Baseball team.
The spacious corridors of the Hotel Meliá Habana do not escape the enthusiasm that pervades this March.
From the U.S. city of San Francisco, Gres Massialas thinks it's wonderful that Obama is coming, as Cuba is a neighbor of the United States. “I've come to Cuba about twelve times since my first trip in 1991, and I know the people of Cuba have always been friendly. Unfortunately, many Americans have not been able to come, but I hope that will change.”
While recognizing that the reestablishment of relations between Cuba and the United States has been an incentive for international tourism, with visitors eager to learn about an island blockaded for over half a century, tourist group coordinator Yesenia Cruz considers it a positive for the hotel and the country to be hosting the high-level visit.
Cruz, who works at the hotel located opposite the Miramar Trade Center, is sure that the new context will contribute to the improvement of relations between the two countries, something the Cuban people have been waiting for for many years.
According to U.S. graphic designer Carol del Grosso, visiting Cuba is another means of rapprochement on the part of President Barack Obama. Colombian Gisella Plazas adds that she hopes the normalization of relations takes place to “improve the quality of life of a people such as the Cubans, so nice and friendly.”
For Mexican lawyer Adriana Hernández, the visit is a positive act, indicative of the contact the two nations could have in the international arena. “It's an opportunity that no country should miss out on: to fully integrate into the international community,” she adds.
According to Hernández, Cuba has a very significant global presence, which transcends President Obama's visit to the island. “The integration of Cuba with the United States and the United States with Cuba becomes very important in a world that is completely open and globalized. The boundaries have been crossed and there is a lot of expectation, from Cubans and foreigners, to see how this helps toward normalizing relations,” the expert in international law explains.
It has also caught her attention that Cuba is making all the necessary preparations to provide a warm welcome during this state visit. Meanwhile, Niurka Fernández, a telephone operator at the Meliá Habana, believes that the U.S. government is taking positive steps, both for the Cuban people and for its own. “Although this should have happened a long time ago, I believe relations can be expanded, until they are normalized. It is admirable that the U.S. President is doing what no other president has, and that it’s for the good of the country,” she concludes.
However, young tourism promoter Adriana Cruz does not have many expectations regarding the visit by the President of the United States to Cuba. “I do not think that in such a short time he can appreciate the national reality. What I do think is that this will increase the boom that exists in the world regarding Cuba.”
She adds that following the reestablishment of diplomatic relations, many have shown interest in visiting and investing in Cuba. “The visit will not change conceptions or substantially transform domestic life, though hopefully it will influence the economic, cultural or social spheres, as this is something that has not happened for some time.”
From the lobby bar of this five star hotel, waitress Sandra Armenteros and salesperson Alicia Landa, state that the visit will see new agreements, to help peace and development.
“Cubans will always defend the ideals of the nation, but never aggressively. Obama will be welcomed in the best way possible and in the hope that this can be a driving force so that one day the blockade ceases to exist,” Chef Yosvany Hernández concludes.
