That recent conference at the Cuban Club in Ybor City–“Rapprochement With Cuba: Good for Tampa, Good for Florida, Good for America”–updated a couple of perceptions in the ongoing–and frustrating–relationship between the U.S. and Cuba.
*U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, now a third-term congresswoman, is a recognized player on the issue–and impressed out-of-town speakers as an advocate for Tampa as well as improved bilateral relations.
*Col. Larry Wilkerson, a former member of the National Security Council under President George Bush and former chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin Powell, waxed frank about the military’s take on relations with Cuba. “The Pentagon has absolutely no inclination in considering Cuba a threat to the U.S.,” he emphasized. “Quite the opposite. It thinks our policy is preposterously stupid. Hell, they’re (Cuba) not sponsoring revolution. They’re sponsoring health care.”
*Llanio Gonzalez-Lopez, general counsel at the Cuban Interests Section in Washington, was actually here in Tampa for the gathering. It was thought he would have to Skype or phone it in as Cuban diplomatic personnel have been routinely prohibited from traveling beyond the D.C. perimeter. Obviously, travel restrictions have been eased by the U.S. And Counselor Gonzalez-Lopez, who had 48 hours for his Tampa sortie, obviously appreciated his first-ever trip to Havana-rooted Tampa. “I feel like I’m in Cuba,” he said with an animated, ironic smile.