Interviews from Washington - Sarah Stephens on US-Cuba Relations

In today’s edition of Interviews from Washington DC, US-Cuba relations is the topic, and our host Jorge Gestoso interviews Sarah Stephens of the Center for Democracy in the Americas. Stephens has made at least 60 visits to Cuba and has organized any number of visits of U.S. officials to the island. Stephens comments on the positive reaction of United States citizens to the talks now going on, as manifested in a number of polls and also in the large number of people flocking to Cuba, where they are being warmly received by the Cuban people. In what Stephens describes as a “gold rush,” U.S. businessmen are especially enthusiastic about investigating investment possibilities, while the U.S. Congress is especially recalcitrant. The interview covers each country’s motivation for pursuing normalization, the lessons now being learned on both sides, some changes in preconceived notions and media coverage, President Raul Castro’s possible successor, and the congressional hurdles faced by President Barack Obama in his bid to change US-Cuba relations. teleSUR