The issue of U.S.-Cuba relations could divide families, according to a young Hartford attorney who shared her thoughts after President Barack Obama announced a move toward diplomacy Wednesday.
"I'm 50 percent Cuban, first-generation American," said Carla Nascimento Zahner, from behind the counter of La Estrella Portuguese bakery. She was filling in her parents, the owners, after attending to business in court.
"My mom came to this country after the Bay of Pigs," explained Zahner, referring to the failed 1961 U.S. invasion halfheartedly supported by the Kennedy administration. "She's always instilled so much of our culture in my everyday life."
Zahner said she thinks diplomatic relations with Cuba could be positive even with the Castro brothers still running their police state.
"If the Castros are still there, I can guarantee you my Mom would not agree with my sentiment right now," she said. "She vehemently opposes any relations with the Castro family."
The new deal does not open Cuba to American tourism, but it does raise the remittance maximums to $2,000 a quarter, up from just $500.
"It would be life changing for them," said Zahner. "They live in squalor. They depend so much on every single dollar that comes from family members in this country. It's a very, very touchy subject."
