New ties spark mixed emotions in Cuba

US citizens who made island their home are wary of change, but hail future opportunities

On Monday, for the first time since 1961, Cuba's red, white and blue flag flew over Havana's newly upgraded embassy in Washington, just a stone's throw from the White House.

"I thought I would die before it would happen," Rena Perez, 80, said on the eve of the official resumption of diplomatic ties between the United States and Cuba.

Perez is better placed than many to assess what it means for US citizens and Cubans on the streets. She is a rare thing - a US citizen who arrived in Cuba 56 years ago with her Cuban partner and has called the communist island home ever since.

Renewed ties - frozen for half a century - could address Cuba's housing crisis, but Perez also is worried that a rush of development could spoil the "beautiful" country she considers home.

"Cuba lacks 700,000 homes. Somebody will make money reconstructing Cuba," she said. "The US wants to make, and will make, a hell of a lot of money."

While Perez sees economic opportunities for some, medical student Pasha Jackson, 32, hopes the rapprochement will mean improved healthcare in Cuba.

Jackson, like Perez, is among the small community of US expats in Cuba. And like Perez, she received the news of renewed ties with a dash of ambivalence.

"What will change with the opening of the embassy? I honestly don't know. But I have hopes," said Jackson, who was born in Oakland, California, and has lived in Cuba for six years.

She said both countries have a lot to learn from each other when it comes to providing adequate medical care.

"Being poor where I live, in Oakland, means being sick," said Jackson, a student at the Latin American School of Medicine - popular among US citizens in Havana. "I would love a universal health model. ... I'm thinking about my community."

Fellow US medical student Graham Sowa said he was delighted at the prospect of a greater US presence in Cuba, and was happy that Cuba will get the recognition that he feels has been lacking.

"I'm glad the US finally sees Cuba as an independent country, with which it's possible to deal in equal terms," Sowa said. "I would like to see our flag flying as a symbol for the renewed relations with our neighbor. We have much more in common than differences."

With the two countries warming to each other, Sowa said residents of both may find more similarities than differences - especially when it comes to popular culture.

Despite a lack of widespread - or fast - Internet access in Cuba, US television series such as Game of Thrones and musicians like Jay-Z are popular, offering Cubans a cultural touchstone and common bond with their US neighbors.

Musician Pablo Menendez, originally from California, has been living in Cuba for 49 years. He said the Cuban and US people have always been close - even when politicians tried to drag them in opposite directions.

Some US citizens, such as Menendez, spoke of the difficulties in getting visas for their Cuban spouses to visit America, and hope that may soon change. But they remain wary.

New Yorker Conner Gorry has lived in Cuba since 2002 and would like to travel more easily.

"Raising the flag means nothing to me until my family can come here legally," said Gorry, who married a Cuban journalist-blogger and is founder of a US literary cafe in Cuba.