Cubans worry about Donald Trump after Fidel Castro's death

Many Cubans reckon they could do with their late leader's charisma and way with words to counter Trump's bombast.

Update: 2016-11-27 20:37 GMT
Flowers, candles and a Cuban cigar are displayed in memory of Cuban President Fidel Castro, who died on Friday. (Photo: AP)

Havana: The death of ‘El Comandante’ has added to worries among Cubans that U.S. President-Elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente between the estranged neighbors.

“A brutal dictator” of a “totalitarian island,” declared President-elect Donald Trump, underscoring the historical trauma still separating the countries.

Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castro’s younger brother President Raul Castro to end half a century of hostilities.

Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure the Cuban-American vote in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly re-opened U.S. embassy in Havana.

Many Cubans reckon they could do with their late leader’s charisma and way with words to counter Trump’s bombast. “With him gone, I am a little fearful of what could happen because of Trump’s way of thinking and acting,” said Yaneisi Lara, a 36-year-old Havana street vendor.

“He could block everything Obama has done, and he did a lot, managing to get the United States. closer to Cuba,” Lara was quoted as saying by Reuters.

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