The Pope will be greeted as a hero when he arrives in Cuba this weekend after playing a major role in the restoration of diplomatic relations between the island and the United States. Now Cubans hope he will persuade America to end its trade embargo
The baggage belts at José Martí International Airport register deep truths of the surrealist diplomacy between Cuba and America. Shop-bought goods take priority to conventional bags as the under-staffed handlers deposit flat-screen TVs in their unopened boxes next to glistening black tyres, brand new tyres, yes the kind you put on cars.
Tyres in a country of retrofitted American cars have supreme value. The man who drove me around here for 10 days has a 1956 Chevrolet with an aeroplane icon on its hood and a Mercedes engine.
T
17 September 2015, The Tablet
Trading places: Cubans look to the Pope to open up the island
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