What Will the Death of Castro Mean To Future US Relations?

by Maria Botta

What could it mean to the US economy? 3 Possibilities On Lifting of the Embargo.

 

This is an emotional time for Cubans on both sides of the embargo, I am one of those people who has been waiting a lifetime to witness the end of this brutal dictators life.

Maria Botta's parents in Cuba

My mom and dad engaged on the eve of the Revolution in Havana, Cuba. Jose Angel Botta Jr and Maria del Carmen Alvarez (aka Bebe)

Just like thousands of other families my entire family fled Cuba around 1960, escaping with little more than the clothes on their backs. For perspective, it is estimated that Castro forced 20% of the Cuban population into exile plus the countless number of balseros who lost their lives in the Florida straits.

My mom, my uncles and my grandmother, Havana, Cuba

I have mixed emotions around the announcement of Fidel Castro’s death. “Announcement” because many feel that he has been dead for some time, and that his demise has been kept quiet in order to facilitate a peaceful transition of power, Castro officially ceded power to his brother Raul provisionally in 2006 and definitively in 2008.

One the other hand, I feel great relief that the world is rid of such an evil presence, the man who among his crimes murdered thousands, repressed a nation since 1959 and stole the future of my entire family and forced them to live and die in exile.

My maternal great grandmother, Maria Damiana Molina de Garcia Menocal

My paternal grandmother, aunt and dad. Havana, Cuba

It would have given the Cuban people in exile great satisfaction to see him face his crimes in a trial at the International court in the Hague – but that satisfaction escaped us.

On the other hand, I am concerned and wonder what is next for the people of Cuba?

Will we finally see a Cuba Libre?

While I don’t believe that the socialist Castro government will collapse, I do see that this sets the stage for quicker change, and economic reforms that experts contend were previously opposed by Fidel.

Next- The death of Fidel is curious timing for many reasons.