Cuban People Offer Hope for a Better Tomorrow
Average people on both sides of the embargo can agree that it has been an epic fail for the people and for business. No one has won, and it’s time to try something new, enough of the tentative political dance between both countries, it’s time to embrace each other, make peace and move forward into a prosperous future.
This idea was brought home for me when I spoke to some traveling companions whose daughter was doing an exchange semester at The University of Havana. She was enjoying her studies – a different perspective – and her Cuban friends. She told me her only regret was that she may never be able to see her Cuban friends again, unless the government changes. She is part of the new generation. Let’s hope that with increased exchanges, understanding will grow and barriers will fall.
Other hopeful signs include, the day that I returned to the U.S., I was greeted by a New York Times article “Easing of Restraints in Cuba Renews Debate on U.S. Embargo.”
But there is the case of Alan Gross, an American contractor who has been imprisoned in Cuba for three years for bringing satellite and communications equipment in for Jewish groups. The U.N. rallied to declare human rights violations. Interestingly, just before publishing this piece, Cuba began pushing for a trade deal with U.S. – the country’s five “spies” from La Red Avispa, or the Wasp Network, in exchange for Gross. Let’s see what happens, hopefully everyone can save face and move on.
Returning Home
This first trip to Cuba was very emotional, the visit bittersweet and full of dichotomies. I looked at the past, which has stood still in many ways, with an eye toward imagining a future of a free Cuba. This will not be my last trip, and I hope one day I may be able to stay for awhile and rebuild my mother’s family home on the beach in Santa Fe. When I am older, I also hope to write the memoirs of our exile there.
Maria Botta is Director – Creative Development, Client Solutions at The Weather Channel. The daughter of Cuban exiles, she was born in the US, and raised in Europe and the Caribbean. She holds an EMBA in Global Management from Thunderbird’s prestigious European program in Geneva, Switzerland, and an Art History degree from Mt. Holyoke College. Her professional experience extends into all genres of production and marketing, she has produced hundreds of TV commercials, promos, short films, and television shows, and has worked in advertising, network TV, marketing and the entertainment industries.
