American of Cuban descent, second generation. I have a few thoughts.
First, I agree with Obama's decision even if I think it was done in bad faith. The US has enough people and it doesn't need any more. The ones who have been arriving as of late have not been the best and the brightest, and have added nothing to the US except for more debt through social services and depressed wages.
Second, I know that this was done because of the elections. Obama is a petty man. Had Hillary won, Obama probably would have sat this one through and let Hillary take it down. Cubans hate the Clintons anyway, so there would be no love lost there. But Steve Sailor has this right, Cubans went for Trump 54%. They voted for him with the same percentage as white women. So yeah, a petty move by a petty man. Although good was done, it was still done under false presences. Had this been an honest move, he would have done it before the election, right around the time relations with Cuba were normalized.
Third, and this isn't something anyone here is going to like to hear, but it must be said. For the poster who stated that the "Exile" should now go back, the "Exile" is dead. Literally. Those Cubans who considered themselves "The Exile" were baby boomers/greatest generation of which most have died. The last member of that generation is my grandmother who is so old she can neither speak nor move. Their children, the Baby Boomers, either came to the US as young children or were born here. They are somewhat culturally Cuban, but this is the gist, the Cuba which they are culturally a part of is no longer alive. CUBA, is dead. Dead dead dead. They may think they are Cubans, but most Cubans don't acknowledge them as such. Indeed, they are very different in values and appearance.
And this is connected to my Fourth point. It's very interesting that in a blog like this, and others, where race matters and where differences of race are considered, few people consider this dynamic in another country, like say, Cuba. If anyone were to scan the faces of those who went to Fidel's funeral, one would see a sea of black people. When one of my family members visited in the 90's, she came back with rolls of tape and a sad heart. "It's just not the same," she said. I wonder why. A great aunt, not quite so PC, asked while watching the video of the trip what "all those black people are doing there." The people who made Cuba what it is, the White/mostly white Spaniards are gone. That means Cuba is gone. This is a tough pill to swallow because no one likes to admit these things since to admit them, one would have to discuss difficult issues about race.
It's been white flight since '56. I know this because the Cubans I grew up with don't look anything like the majority of Cubans who live in Cuba right now. There is no way that second and third generation children will go there and fell at home. This is very different from going back to Europe and being surrounded by a people and a culture who are familiar. As a comparison, my Aunt who found Cuba too Different to visit again goes to Spain all the time and thinks its great.
I am honest enough to admit this, but most Cubans are not. Instead, they will find some excuse or other to stay here. A few recent arrivals who can't cut it may go back, but those who were born here of the original three waves will be in no hurry to go. I suspect that the man whose half-Cuban niece considered going to Cuba after Castro's death will have a mysterious change of heart if she ever seriously entertains the idea and does a few preliminary visits. She may never speak the reason, because to do so will mean she will cross the bounds of social respectability, but she will know it in her heart. Namely, that the Cubans who live in Cuba look nothing like her Cuban parent and extended family. She may as well move to Detroit, with nicer black people.
Race matters. Even in Cuba.
Fifth, Socialism isn't dead there. Castro's death changes nothing. The family is still very much in power, and a successor has been named upon Raul's death. The majority black/mulatto population backs and happily does their bidding even though the ruling class is almost entirely white.
Cuba is dead to me. But it isn't just dead to me, it is dead, period.
