MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Roughly 20 people met outside of the popular Cuban eatery Versailles Restaurant in Little Havana on Monday to protest President Obama’s trip to Cuba.
Some Cuban-Americans in South Florida, including members of the exile community, said that Obama is making a mistake by going to the island.
"Did you see what happened in Havana yesterday when they arrested the Ladies in White and many dissidents in Havana?" Joel Rodriguez, a Cuban-American, said. "The regime proved again that they’re going to repress any (different opinion)."
While some went to the streets to show their dismay about the trip, others expressed themselves behind closed doors.
Heated discussions took place early Monday inside the Mildred and Claude Pepper Senior Center, as Cuban exiles were intently watching coverage of the President Obama’s historic trip to Cuba.
One woman told Local 10 News that Obama will have blood on his hands for shaking Cuban President Raul Castro’s hands. Another said she feels the president is disrespecting Cuban dissidents by visiting the island nation.
While some at the senior center decided to watch the coverage of Obama’s visit, others like Ana Medina, chose to look away.
Medina was visibly upset as she knitted while the television aired the coverage of Obama’s Cuba trip.
"Right now I saw them shaking hands, and shaking hands and shaking hands (with) criminals," she said. "What has been changed in Cuba? Nothing."
Medina left Cuba when she was 21 years old with her two young children. Her son was 2 weeks old at the time, sick and in need of medicine that the Cuban government couldn’t provide.
"I don't want my kids to live in a communist country," she said. "I said ‘I have to go.'"
Medina, who hasn’t been back to the island since she left, said she doesn’t believe Cuba will change any time soon and that she has no desire to go back.
"I don't feel like giving any kind of money to those criminals," she said. "There have no respect for human life there."
For those of generations once or twice removed from Cuba, Obama’s unilateral steps towards travel and commerce opportunity signaled progress, although the pace of that progress is uncertain.
"I think it will come eventually," Claudia Schumann, a Cuban-American, said. "It’s just somebody has to take the initiative."