Obama in Cuba – more popular than Castro?

Obama in Cuba – more popular than Castro?

Thousands line streets of Havana to see him
Untold numbers cheer privately at home
Secret poll earlier showed him more popular than Fidel or Raúl Castro

BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@mcclatchydc.com

HAVANA
President Barack Obama's decision to restore ties with Cuba may have
given him a revered spot in the heart of many Cubans.

Crowds lined the roads here to catch a glimpse of the presidential
motorcade. Along the route to a baseball game between U.S. and Cuban
teams, thousands spilled into the streets and crowded onto balconies.

The American flag, once a sign of hostility, did fly beside the Cuban
colors from the antennas of the vintage American automobiles that
ferried visitors around the city. And an entrepreneur pitched a
refrigerator magnet with Obama holding a cigar under his nose.

But they were still outnumbered by trinkets with images of Fidel Castro
and Che Guevara. And in a country accustomed to disappointment and ruled
by the same family since 1959, there were few overt displays of support
for the American president, even as he spent the better part of three
days touring Havana's sights, eating its food and urging its people to
embrace democracy.

Cubans cheered his speech in the privacy of their homes – the government
did not erect large screen monitors in public as it has with other
events. "Who would have thought we'd see this?" said Jesus Magán as he
watched at home. "I mean, we were trained to fight against the Americans!"

A poll conducted here secretly months after Obama's December 2014
decision to normalize relations with Cuba found the president more
popular than either Fidel Castro or his brother, Raúl, who now serves as
president.

Eighty percent of the Cubans polled said they had a "very positive" or
"somewhat positive" opinion of Obama, while 17 percent had a "very
negative" or "somewhat negative" impression.

That stood in sharp contrast to the findings for Raúl and Fidel Castro,
both of whom had higher negative than positive ratings in the March 2015
poll done by Miami-based Bendixen & Amandi International on behalf of
Univision, Fusion and the Washington Post.

"The Cuban people see the president as the personification of the
catalyst for change that they're desperate to see take hold in Cuba,"
Fernand Amandi, a managing partner at Bendixen, said last week.

Well wishers welcomed Obama with cheers and shouts of "USA, USA" as he
arrived in Havana Sunday night, applauding the first family as it toured
the historic part of the city under a downpour. Late Sunday, the streets
were lined with people taking photos as the motorcade ferried the first
family to dinner at a local "paladares" – the private restaurants that
administration officials point to as a sign of a changing Cuban economy.

Orlando Laguardia, the self-proclaimed "Poeta de Cuba," set up shop on a
busy Old Havana street, with a copy of a poem he wrote for Obama's visit.

Though there are issues yet to be resolved in the relationship between
the two countries, he wrote in Spanish: "We exclaim with pleasure:
Welcome President Obama."

But many are skeptical that the presidential attention will have a
lasting effect.

"Obama, he's the best, the best. He is a nice president,' said Antonio
Michael, 42, celebrating his birthday on Saturday with friends in a
park. "But we don't have milk to drink; we don't have gas for cars. The
people in Cuba don't have anything that works. We hope for Obama that we
will get more than just talk."

Cubans have largely tempered any expectations that Obama's effort will
lead to longstanding changes from a largely resistant Cuban government.
And there's the worry that the next president could reverse Obama's
policy – which he hopes his trip will make more difficult.

"The Cubans, one of the things we hear a lot around town is, 'Gosh, we
hope, but let's see,' " said former George W. Bush administration
Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, a Cuban-American who backs Obama's
outreach. "They know, they're very in tune with our politics and very in
tune with the fact that there will be a change of presidency and
elections coming up, and what that will mean for them."

Other American presidents have made overtures to opening Cuba's
government, but were rebuffed. President Jimmy Carter, shortly after
taking office, tried to restore ties and opened a U.S. diplomatic
mission in 1977. But his efforts were thwarted when Fidel Castro
orchestrated the 1980 Mariel boatlift, when thousands fled to the United
States, including convicts.

There's hope – if not belief – it will be different this time.

"Obama is a good man; the other U.S. presidents, no," said Manuel
Alonzo, 69, who lives around the corner from the cathedral and was
hoping to get a glimpse of Obama as the first family took a tour of Old
Havana. "This is Cuba. We are friends, we should act like friends."

Lesley Clark: 202-383-6054, @lesleyclark

Source: Obama in Cuba – more popular than Castro? | Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article67763397.html