Web Video: Loosening Restrictions on Cuba

MS. IFILL: When the president meets with Caribbean and South American leaders this weekend, one major regional player simply won't be there. That would be Cuba. The U.S. this week lifted some of the travel and money restrictions imposed on Cuba, but stopped well assured of toppling up more far reaching trade embargo. In response to this modest bit of outreach, this surprising statement from Cuban President Raul Castro.

CUBAN PRESIDENT RAUL CASTRO: (From videotape.) We've told the North American government in private and in public that we are prepared, wherever they want, to discuss everything -- human rights, freedom of the press, political prisoners -- everything, everything, everything.

MS. IFILL: Everything. (Laughter.) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called the statement a very welcome gesture. And President Obama said today he is seeking a new beginning. So what are we to take from all of this, big movements, Tom?

MR. GJELTEN: Oh, Gwen, I have seen Raul Castro give various speeches. He's a guy who reads his speeches like this. I have never seen him waving his arms in the air like this.

MS. IFILL: Yes.

MR. GJELTEN: And what does that mean? Does that mean he's excited or does it mean he's agitated? There is an interpretation here that Raul has been put on the defensive by this move. You're right. These are very modest changes. There's no relaxation of the embargo, obviously. There's no -- Cuban Americans are going to be able to go back to Cuba to visit family members. They can send as much money as they want, but it doesn't apply to other Americans. In fact, it doesn't even apply to all Cuban Americans. It's only those Cuban Americans who have family members in Cuba, second cousins or closer. Other Cuban Americans aren't going to be able to go. So it's a very modest thing. And yet you get this very energetic declaration by Raul. I think one thing to keep in mind is that this is a -- one, it's a unilateral move on the part of the Obama administration, which means the Cubans can't say no. Second, he's talking about policies, issues that are very popular in Cuba. The idea of family visits and remittances back to Cuba are very popular. Third, and this is very important, Barack Obama is speaking to the Cuban people. Keep in mind that the best estimates right now are that 60 to 70 percent of the population in Cuba is black or mulatto. So you have an African- American president speaking to an Afro-Cuban population about issues that are very popular in Cuba. I think for that reason, there is -- this is a very unique and historic moment.

MS. IFILL: So what he says can resonate more, but he did -- what he didn't say -- he didn't talk about human rights. He didn't talk about political rights, all the things we've just saw President Castro bring out.

MR. GJELTEN: That's exactly right. I think that in many ways the Castro brothers would prefer to keep this relationship in some ways in a more adversarial tone. There is not going to be -- the President Obama speaking at Trinidad in the summit just this evening said he's not interested in talking just for the sake of talking. Raul Castro has just come out and said, we're willing to talk about human rights, political prisoners, and so forth. But President Obama is saying, you know, instead, why don't you just lift the remittance tax on the money that Cuban Americans send back. That's a much more difficult issue for the Castro brothers to deal with.

MR. JAVERS: So can this ultimately be sort of the opening gambit here of a strategy that leads to Castro and Obama sitting down and actually talking in the same room? That would be striking.

MR. GJELTEN: It would be striking, Eamon. I think we're going to have to wait a while to see any kind of White House invitation or even Hillary Clinton going to Havana. The issues that President Obama mentioned that could be subject of discussion are ones that are normally dealt with at a fairly low level -- migration, counter- narcotics, environmental policy, economic issues. If there is going to be more contact, it's going to be at that lower level. I don't think that the White House sees any reason to rush into this. They have a feeling that the ball is now in the Cubans' court. They've laid out a number of issues that really require response from the Cubans and I don't think that there's going to be really any more pressure at this point to go to talks.

MR. WILLIAMS: Well, Tom, for example, why did the administration say it's just close relatives that can go to Cuba and not anybody in America who wants to go?

MR. GJELTEN: Well, Pete, by restricting this move, they made it basically politically zero cost. There is no opposition to speak of to this move. You even had Mel Martinez, a Republican Cuban American senator from Florida, saying this is a good thing. So they have achieved -- with this minimum move, they have achieved a big political effect at almost no political cost. And the second reason or the second factor to keep in mind is that when you -- I think that there are more -- the White House, when they announced this, said this was a starting point. If you roll out a series of steps over time as opposed to all at once, you get a lot more mileage out of it. You get the sense that there is movement, that there is a trend. And I think that's the message they want to send.

MR. HSU: Tom, is there a matter of like timing, like how does this dynamic play with the Castro brothers, and as you mentioned, what happens -- what happens next?

MR. GJELTEN: Well, I think an interesting thing will be to see what happens at this weekend's meeting in Trinidad. There's going to be a lot of pressure on Barack Obama from other Latin countries to take this one step further.

There's talk about reintroducing Cuba to the Organization of American States, from which it was expelled in 1962 --

MS. IFILL: In May, right?

MR. GJELTEN: -- and their next meeting will be May. The question is whether the United States will fight this or embrace it. And I think there is at least a possibility United States will say to the OAS, okay, you want to bring Cuba back into the OAS, let's bring Cuba back into the OAS and let's talk about democracy. So I think that this is a very suspenseful time. It's a risky moment for both the United States, for the Obama administration and for the Cuban side, maybe even more so for the Cuban side.