12/20/2014
BUENOS AIRES – The rapprochement between Cuba and the United States announced this week by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro “was a matter of time,” a brother of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967) told Efe in an interview.
The announcement caught Juan Martin Guevara, 71, by surprise and he said he hadn’t had time to even talk with his nieces and nephews in Havana to get more details.
“I believe that there was no possibility it wasn’t going to happen, in other words: it was a matter of time,” he said. “Some people would say it took too long, that it should have happened earlier, but these are now senseless calculations because the fact is, there is now an opening.”
“The (diplomatic) relations will be re-established ... and certainly the end of the embargo will have to follow. Trade relations will have to come, investment and much more. Surely there will be many U.S. business owners who want that,” Guevara said.
The governments of Cuba and the United States announced Wednesday they will restore full diplomatic relations after more than 50 years, to be accompanied by expanded travel and other exchanges between the two countries.
But the U.S. economic embargo, imposed in 1962, became law in 1996 and ending it will require action by Congress.
Guevara said Cuba will embrace capitalism and that tourism will be a major area for investment, although he expects the changes to come slowly.
“What would Fidel think with his mind fully in order?” Guevara wondered. “I mean, finally we got to the point we expected to reach, and there a reasonable relationship will begin to be established.”
“That was always Cuba’s demand: let’s end this and lift the embargo,” he added.
Guevara estimates it will take some time “to get past the volatility of Cuban exiles who are against (the rapprochement), and Republicans who didn’t like it and then there will be a new path, and a new announcement: ‘The embargo has ended.’”
While acknowledging that “it is quite difficult” to imagine how he would view these developments if he were in the shoes of Fidel Castro or even his own brother, Juan Guevara said: “If this benefits the Cuban people, he (Che) would have been happy.”
Without having all the details about the role of Pope Francis in the rapprochement, Guevara praised the Argentine pontiff’s intervention and said he trusts it will set a precedent for the Church’s participation in conflict resolution.
“Cuba now joins the rest of the world but at the Cubans’ pace,” Guevara said. “They do it with a moral reserve that’s their own and a joy of living that’s their own.”
source
BUENOS AIRES – The rapprochement between Cuba and the United States announced this week by Presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro “was a matter of time,” a brother of Argentine-born Cuban revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara (1928-1967) told Efe in an interview.The announcement caught Juan Martin Guevara, 71, by surprise and he said he hadn’t had time to even talk with his nieces and nephews in Havana to get more details.
“I believe that there was no possibility it wasn’t going to happen, in other words: it was a matter of time,” he said. “Some people would say it took too long, that it should have happened earlier, but these are now senseless calculations because the fact is, there is now an opening.”
“The (diplomatic) relations will be re-established ... and certainly the end of the embargo will have to follow. Trade relations will have to come, investment and much more. Surely there will be many U.S. business owners who want that,” Guevara said.
The governments of Cuba and the United States announced Wednesday they will restore full diplomatic relations after more than 50 years, to be accompanied by expanded travel and other exchanges between the two countries.
But the U.S. economic embargo, imposed in 1962, became law in 1996 and ending it will require action by Congress.
Guevara said Cuba will embrace capitalism and that tourism will be a major area for investment, although he expects the changes to come slowly.
“What would Fidel think with his mind fully in order?” Guevara wondered. “I mean, finally we got to the point we expected to reach, and there a reasonable relationship will begin to be established.”
“That was always Cuba’s demand: let’s end this and lift the embargo,” he added.
Guevara estimates it will take some time “to get past the volatility of Cuban exiles who are against (the rapprochement), and Republicans who didn’t like it and then there will be a new path, and a new announcement: ‘The embargo has ended.’”
While acknowledging that “it is quite difficult” to imagine how he would view these developments if he were in the shoes of Fidel Castro or even his own brother, Juan Guevara said: “If this benefits the Cuban people, he (Che) would have been happy.”
Without having all the details about the role of Pope Francis in the rapprochement, Guevara praised the Argentine pontiff’s intervention and said he trusts it will set a precedent for the Church’s participation in conflict resolution.
“Cuba now joins the rest of the world but at the Cubans’ pace,” Guevara said. “They do it with a moral reserve that’s their own and a joy of living that’s their own.”
source
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