Farewell Fidel

This is how the BBC made the announcement this morning:I am trying to imagine how speculation will run wild in the next few days as everyone with an interest in Cuba starts to mouth off about US and Cuban relations. Even though Castro has announced he's stepping down I find it hard to imagine his slightly younger brother Raul will make huge changes when he is elected President on Sunday by Cuba's legislators.

I don't think too much will change for a quite a long time around here, other than Cuban migrants getting in a ferment and embarrassing everyone as always with wild statements about how they are going to get back what's theirs in Cuba and so forth. Perhaps if they can contain their mad anger things will improve enough in the short run they will get to see their families as often as they want. Which would be nice.

Key Westers will be pinning their hopes on improved relations with Cuba to increase tourism but I think it will be a mixed bag, depending on what Cuban leaders manage to arrange with our next President (George Bush is a lost cause in foreign relations - even in Kosovo they are cheering Bill Clinton which I find a little...odd)

It's hard to imagine people by-passing Miami to come to Key West to fly to Havana. I wonder how the cruise ships will plot their futures when they have to choose between Key West and Old Havana? If they are generous they will include us as well in their itineraries. My fondest hope is for a high speed car/passenger ferry from Stock Island to Mariel, but that seems a long long way away, and rather trivial at this moment in history.

I think, when all's said and done, that nothing much will change between Cuba and the US until Fidel, the bearded One, is finally dead and all the heartache since 1959 is buried with him.