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b"With\\xa0Angelo Castillo, Commissioner in Pembroke Pines, Florida

Thomas Wolfe wrote You Can\\u2019t Go Home Again, but maybe you can. Angelo Castillo, a Commissioner from Pembroke Pines, Florida and a Cuban-born American who has served as an executive in the Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, Cuomo, and Pataki administrations in New York, recently did just that. What he experienced during his visit to the land of his birth was both emotional and informative.
Amidst the crumbling architecture of once ornately-splendid buildings, 50-year old cars navigating through pot-holed roads, and sparsely filled shelves in food and clothing markets exists a society, not only welcoming to tourists but hungry for change and modernization. The Cuba that Angelo experienced when he traveled there recently on a visa provided by the Cuban government fulfilled many of his expectations\\u2014he found music in the streets, wonderful food, and a reconnection with family members after so many long years.
Working with so little resources since the inception of the Castro regime, the Cuban people have had to rely on their own ingenuity in order to move around and to construct a livable existence for themselves and their families. Sometimes this involves figuring out how to repair an old car (for which they have no access to replacement parts) by creating a muffler out of empty peach cans, and sometimes it means dealing with the black market. A black market can become an indispensable component when scarcity exists in a society, and, for a country like Cuba with not enough food, clothing, and other items needed or desired, the black market becomes a way of life.
Change is coming for the Cuban people, however, it\\u2019s in the air. And from what Angelo gleaned from talking to friends, family, and the hombre on the street during his visit, there\\u2019s a difference in attitude between the older more conservative Cubans and the young people who are eager to get on with their lives and have opportunities possible only in an open society.
Tourism\\u2014new hotels are already being built by European companies\\u2014will certainly help restore the economy to a decent standard, and infrastructure, long neglected, will be upgraded. But, Angelo notes, change will not come swiftly but at a moderate pace, since Cuba is, after all, still a dictator-led country. In the meantime, the barriers against technology are harder to maintain, and so the outside world comes slipping in at an ever greater pace. IPhones, the internet, and social media sites such as Facebook are slowly becoming part of Cuban life, at least for a younger generation who, observed Angelo, are \\u201cyearning to join the rest of the world\\u201d.
We here at onthemoneyradio.org are testimony to the power of the internet. Recently we\\u2019ve had a lot of \\u201clikes\\u201d on our Facebook page from Havana, Cuba. So someone, somewhere, somehow is listening to onthemoneyradio.org. and, for that, we\\u2019re very grateful.
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Steve Pomeranz: \\xa0Angelo Castillo is a Cuban-born American raised in New York City.\\xa0 He currently serves as a commissioner in his hometown of Pembroke Pines, Florida. Angelo has also served as an executive in the Koch, Dinkins, Giuliani, Cuomo, and Pataki administrations in New York.\\xa0 He's recently visited Havana, Cuba, making his first trip back to the island of his birth.\\xa0 I've asked him to come on this show and discuss what he saw from a personal perspective, but also as a professional city executive.\\xa0 Hey, Angelo,"