Also recall the loud, stupid backlash when he got back, which he couldn't have been expecting.

Had no idea why that happened until after reading your article. Jeb Bush and his "exile" posse have very powerful tentacles, don't they?

It would be excellent learning which scary "exile" was the one Jeb Bush sent to deliver the message to him.

Hope Tampa Cubans will get stronger and stronger, eventually. They sound like an outstanding bunch of people.

Lots of great information in your article. Thank you, Mika.

My guess is Tampa will be way ahead of this city on this. They will probably host the Cuban consulate, use their Port to expand trade, and promote vacations to both places when the travel ban/embargo are lifted. Although more and more Cubans in Miami favor normalization, this shift is not at all evident when it comes to politics. Everyone from the City Council to the Mayor and probably the dog-catcher favor the embargo. Until the right-wing thugs either die-off or start losing elections, Miami will continue to lose out on the benefits of trade with Cuba.

between Tampa and Cuba.

That could be tremendous for a great many people.

Tampa seems far more civilized regarding Cuba matters in general.

The Mayor of Jacksonville recently came out against the embargo, too, wanting to use the Port there to trade with Cuba. Funny how just about every city in Florida wants to restart relations, except the one that would benefit the most.

Interesting. Though the issue seems to be that there's not much that Tampa has to trade with Cuba. Miami yes.

It used to be the site of the consulate before 1961, so it wouldn't really be something new. The lowlife Mayor of Miami already says he would fight against it, not that he would have any legal say in the matter, but i imagine he would try to get the agitators/terrorists fired up about it. Here's a couple articles on the subject.

http://tbo.com/news/politics/warming-cuba-relations-may-bring-consulate-back-20150201/
http://www.npr.org/2015/01/14/377122732/miami-rejects-hosting-cuban-consulate-but-tampa-wants-it

On trade, Miami would of course be the larger, natural market, but i foresee a lot of roadblocks being put up by the local politicians, so some companies might want to go to friendlier territory to get their Cuba business operations in gear, of course Ft. Lauderdale could be that place as well.

I noticed that Kathy Castor is very dynamic on Cuba. Good for her and others with open minds in Tampa.

Didn't know the mayor of Miami was such an idiot!

She's the only member of the Florida delegation who supports lifting the embargo, and the only one that has actually traveled to Cuba. Even usually progressive congress people like Alan Grayson support the embargo. He lost my respect after that.

like Bill Nelson and Debbie Wasserman Schulz. Their leader wants an opening, they need to support him even if it means a loss of Cuban finance dollars, hah.

DWS is one thing but I didn't know Alan was on the take too.

http://www.wmfe.org/grayson-talks-cuba-wages-ahead-of-state-of-the-union/

“I’m concerned that I see the carrot and not the stick. I don’t see what kind of punishment will be left to inflict on the Cuban regime if it maintains its dictatorial ways and continues to deny, particularly younger Cubans, the opportunities they would have if they lived in a country that functions as a part of the real world,” says Grayson.

He says the U.S. needs to set deadlines for Cuba before the embargo is lifted. Without an amended plan, he says the embargo has a zero-percent chance of being lifted by Congress."

Bill Nelson actually came out in support of Obama's changes, but he still resists lifting the embargo. They all know its the right thing to do, but that PAC money is just too much for them to resist. Disgusting.