Cubans Whisper of Change to American Reporter

HAVANA, Jan. 1, 2009 — -- Borrowing from Fidel Castro … here are some "reflections" on the state of the Cuban nation on its 50th birthday of the revolution from a reporter who has visited more than a dozen times in the last 15 years.

There is hope in the eyes of today's Cuban. Yes, life is difficult here. Unlike in some other Caribbean countries no one is starving here and the streets are safe anytime of the day and night. But few flourish either. Cubans must struggle to supplement their nearly free rent, health care, education and government food rations that are never enough. Salaries for extras are low and there are virtually no luxuries.

But the election of Barack Obama in the United States has struck a chord here among the people. As Amide Hernandez told us in her Havana living room, "God bless Obama and the changes he will bring about."

She is, of course, talking about the president-elect's promise to immediately end the Bush administration's strict visitation policies and restore American family rights to send cash to their poorer Cuban relatives.

There is even hope among Cubans that "no-drama Obama" may eventually do something dramatic like end the American embargo. The new president has said he won't consider restoring trade rights with Cuba until more than 200 political prisoners are released from prisons here. It's an idea not totally dismissed by Cuban officials who seem ready to negotiate.

In fact, in private discussions with Cuban officials during this visit there seems to be hope even in their eyes. And bureaucrat after bureaucrat has used new phrases for Cuba that hint at the possibility of economic changes. Words like "incentive" and "private."

President Raul Castro's most recent speech sent echoes through the dismal, gray edifices that house layer upon layer of government bureaucracy.

The Cuban president said that all of his economic decisions will now be based upon "individual incentive." And he promised "structural changes" to the Cuban economy. Behind the scenes, Cuban diplomats point to the new agricultural programs as proof.

One program is a grand experiment that actually allows individual farmers to lease land and run their private farm as they wish. Choosing when and where to plant the crops they, not the state, choose.

I visited Jose Reyes Hernandez's little two-acre plot of land outside Havana. He told me, "I've been given this piece of land, it was forest , this was jungle, now I have this." This is row upon row of peppers, beans and tomatoes.