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Cuba Thaw Sparks Celebration Here for Some

By  Mauricio Peña and Mina Bloom | December 17, 2014 3:28pm | Updated on December 18, 2014 8:16am

 Alberto and Christina Gonzalez of 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, 2540 W. Armitage Ave.
Alberto and Christina Gonzalez of 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, 2540 W. Armitage Ave.
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90 Miles Cuban Cafe

CHICAGO — President Barack Obama's signal that U.S. relations with Cuba would thaw — an effort that could ease travel restrictions and open the door to Cuban goods — was met with a call to celebrate in some quarters of Chicago Wednesday.

At the 90 Miles Cuban Cafe, 2540 W. Armitage Ave., the owners threw a "New Beginnings" party Wednesday night "in celebration of a hopeful beginning in Cuban-American relations," the restaurant said on its Facebook page.

The owners, the Gonzalez family, say they came to the United States in 1980, surviving 15 hours in a storm on a shrimp boat. They're celebrating, cafe owner Alberto Gonzalez said, because they see an opportunity for a change.

"After 50-something years, I'm always seeing the same thing over and over again," said Gonzalez. "Something is not working. This is the path to change."

He said while he understands why people might be skeptical and while he's "not clear on the changes to come," he thinks Obama's announcement looks good on paper.

Cubans, including some of his aunts and uncles, are dealing with a regime that is only concerned with itself, he said, adding that he does not sympathize with the Cuban government.

"This is not about making money, it's about the Cuban people," he said.

"This is pretty cool," added Billy Alvarez, co-owner of the Taste of Cuba Cafe in Lincolnwood. "I haven't had a chance to speak with my father, who was born in Cuba yet, but this is pretty exciting. It should be nice to travel to Cuba without having any restrictions. I can only imagine how excited Cubans are across the country."

Barney Harford, CEO of Chicago-based travel company Orbitz Worldwide, said he hoped the move would pave the way for open travel between the U.S. and Cuba.

"There are numerous economic, social and cultural benefits that will flow from free and open access, and our customers are eager to visit Cuba," Harford said in a statement.

In 2009, Orbitz launched an online petition to urge Obama to "open Cuba" for travel, generating 100,000 signatures, the company said.

"The interaction between people from countries with differing perspectives can be a powerful force for positive change and understanding," Harford said.

Nationally, some Republicans saw the change as caving in to the oppressive regime of Fidel Castro. An embargo in the early 1960s was designed to force Castro out, and some in the GOP promised to block any weakening of it.

"It is a lifeline for the Castro regime that will allow them to become more profitable ... and allow them to become a more permanent fixture," Sen. Marco Rubio (D-Fla.) said on CNN. "The embargo is leverage; these sanctions are leverage."

According to a state history, after Fidel Castro's rise to power, some 20,000 Cubans arrived here, many aided by Catholic Charities. In the city, Cubans settled in the Logan Square, Edgewater, Albany Park and Irving Park "bringing a strong anti-Communist perspective," according to the state history page.

About 8,500 city residents trace their heritage to Cuba, according to the U.S. Census.

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said opening the door with Cuba "for trade and the exchange of ideas will create a force for positive change in Cuba that more than 50 years of our current policy of exclusion could not achieve."

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