As President Barack Obama prepared to land in Cuba late yesterday, the first visit to Cuba by a United States president in nearly 90 years, Cubans brimmed with a combination of excitement and trepidation. Workers were sighted fixing roads, painting buildings and cleaning parks while tourists lined up to take pictures next to billboards featuring Obama side-by-side with Cuban President Raul Castro as American flags flew next to Cuban flags, and everyone talked about what the historic visit would mean for the impoverished, communist nation. Many saw it as the culmination of the opening Obama created when he announced in December 2014 that the Cold War foes would begin the process of normalizing relations. “It’s very, very important. It brings me such joy,” Julio Alvarez, 48, who runs a company that fixes the classic American cars that rumble around Havana, said. Alvarez may get to meet Obama at an event with members of the new class of private entrepreneurs on the island. “I would love to shake his hand and say, ‘Thank you’,” he said. But others were suspicious of the intentions behind the surprising rapprochement, given the long confrontational relationship between the two countries. Some said the opening was designed solely for U.S. companies to squeeze as much money out of Cuba as possible. Some also joked that the Marines wouldquietly sneak in behind Air Force One.
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