• by Leonardo Padura
• Tuesday, March 17, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The training in living "the historic" that we Cubans have received has aroused in us the feeling that this punishing phase of history may be nearing its end, writes Leonardo Padura Fuentes, a Cuban writer and journalist whose novels have been translated into a dozen languages.

In this article, Padura writes that the fact that Obama has begun the enactment of the programme of change proposed during his campaign is a source of hope for Americans. Certain developments have inspired the trust of the inhabitants of this Caribbean island that particular changes promised with regard to the Cuba policy will occur. Certain long- time supporters of the confrontational approach have begun moving their pawns to change at least the appearance of the game. This was the case with Republican senator Richard Lugar, who on February 23 argued that the White House "must recognize the ineffectiveness of our current policy and deal with the Cuban regime in a way that enhances US interests." Two days later the House of Representatives approved lifting restrictions on travel to the island by Cuban-Americans.

Is this the beginning of a different kind of history, which has pursued us like a curse. Is there sufficient political will on either side of the wall of resentment and the array of interests to take steps towards the normalcy that so many Cubans long for?

(*) Leonardo Padura Fuentes is a Cuban writer and journalist. His novels have been translated into a dozen languages and his most recent work, La neblina del ayer, won the Hammett Prize for the best crime novel written in Spanish for 2005.

//NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN CANADA, NEW ZEALAND, CZECH REPUBLIC, IRELAND, POLAND, THE UNITED STATES, AND THE UNITED KINGDOM//

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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