Jack Tame: Obama brings change to life in Cuba

Photo / Thinkstock

I love Cuba. The place reeks of sun and mangoes, mystery and tobacco and sex. Cubans eat icecream like we drink long blacks and rum is as cheap as bottled water.

Cuba is like nowhere else. When you arrive at Customs they don't mark your passport. It's a security thing to protect anyone who might get beef from US customs, but if you're a pasty little dweeb from Christchurch and you ask, they're happy to punch a pink stamp on to a back page for you to boast to your friends.

Under US law, Americans can't holiday in Cuba. Even with the no-stamping thing, few Yankees try it - it's just not worth the hassle.

You can't even book flights to Cuba online if your computer's IP address is in the States.

But if post-revolution life in Cuba was perfect, you'd think they'd celebrate it a bit more. Cuba's education and healthcare systems are incredible, but in Havana and Santiago, Government billboards still say things like "Patria o Muerte" (Homeland or Death).

Murals show Fidel Castro with a gun in his hand. They celebrate the seizing of power rather than the change it affected.

With Raul Castro in charge, things have progressed. You don't have to look hard to find real Coca-Cola and plenty of private enterprise has already slipped into daily life.

But stuff can still be hard to come by - I once lent a snorkel mask to some Cuban kids swimming at an incredible coral reef who'd never had the resources to dive under and open their eyes.

Barack Obama has sought to remove Cuba from a list of states sponsoring terrorism, marking the president's biggest move towards the resumption of diplomatic ties with Havana.

It is a thawing of relations after a historic meeting between Obama and Castro - the first formal talks between the two countries' leaders in more than 50 years.

Many will lament an impending flurry of KFCs spoiling Cuba's myriad charms. It's easy to complain when you're not the one living with the frustrations of Cuban life. And it is absurd the US should still consider Cuba with the same distrust as Syria or Iran.

I saw a billboard in New Jersey the other day for a travel agency organising trips Downunder. It might be the first such ad in 50 years. The revolution is imminent.

• Jack Tame is on Newstalk ZB Saturdays, 9am-midday.