Castro Resigns!!!!
What about in the future? Like after it opens up, and the casino(e)s take over, etc.
Of course you'd need a passport. You need one to go to Canada and the Bahamas. Why wouldn't you need one in Cuba?
Don't take this as a defense of Castro, but my understanding has always been that Raul was the quintessential devil sitting on the shoulder of Fidel. He's a terrible man, and if you look at periods of repression and bloodshed in Cuba, you usually see his fingerprints around it. He's far worse than Fidel.
I agree quite a bit with Guillermo, that investment and development has been going on in Cuba for some time, and the U.S. is the one that is the one missing out. Granted, it's slow, and it's under the strict control of the government, but it's not like the island is as isolated as people in this country like to believe sometimes. The U.S. is largely sitting on the outside of development opportunities because of the embargo, and I suspect other countries are poised to take better advantage of any loosening of restrictions in Cuba. You can bet that were they to relax the policies in Cuba, they will make it very difficult for Americans to move in there. The Europeans already have businesses onshore, as well as banking and government ties. That's a huge advantage.
Just a few years ago, Cuba abandoned the dollar as a currency in Cuba, and moved to the Euro. Many people laughed it off as some sort of feeble attempt to spite the U.S., but given the decline of the dollar, and the fact that Europeans are the primary travellers and investors in Cuba--it's doesn't look so silly any longer.
Maybe after Raul dies or leaves office, there could be some kind of shift in Cuba--perhaps their version of Gorbachev. Who knows. But I think that is the time I would look for big change in Cuba. It's conceivable that under Raul, things could actually get worse.