With relations restored, Cubans in US see more contact with relatives

MIAMI, Florida, United States (AFP) — The flight from Miami to Havana takes just 45 minutes, but the passengers lining up to check in are hardly traveling light.

They are lugging big TVs, bulky bags of non-perishable food like canned goods and even automobile tires.

And most are burdened with big, heavy suitcases, too, packed with stuff that relatives on the poor communistrun island cannot find or cannot afford. And for now, these trips can only be made on expensive charter flights.

But with Cuba and the United States due to open embassies Monday as they restore diplomatic ties, Cubans making the trek back to the island hope it will be easier and cheaper to help their families there.

“So long as there are relations, it is going to be better for the people,’’ said Ernesto Rodriguez, 47, one of the Cuban emigres waiting to check in for a flight to Havana.

He has lived in the United States for more than a decade, and makes the trip back home every two years.

This time, his bulky luggage is loaded mainly with clothes for his 23-year-old son, a physical education teacher in Cuba.

Rodriguez left his family behind 12 years ago when he came to America to try his luck, as do thousands of Cubans every year. Rodriguez now works for an importexport company.

He said that with the agreement announced this month to restore relations after a 50-year hiatus dating back to the height of the Cold War, it might be easier to travel to the island more often.

“The situation is chaotic’’ on the island from an economic standpoint, said Rodriguez. So he takes with him as much as he can on each trip.