President Obama's latest move to further relations with Cuba was barely off his lips when critics unloaded on the plan to open a U.S. embassy in Havana and permit Cuba to open one in Washington.
"Today's announcement cannot be considered normalization ... if it fails to speak to key issues such as whether [the] U.S. government will be limited in the number of diplomats [or] if diplomatic mail can be searched and potentially seized by Cuban authorities," said Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.), a vocal foe of the deal.
Residents of Cuban descent in the Philadelphia area, local academics, and regional businesses with interests in Cuba had a range of reactions.
"It's great. Really good. I am glad to hear it," said Jack McGann, whose International Trading Group, a Philadelphia company, sells tons of frozen poultry to Cuba annually under an economic embargo exception that permits the sale of agricultural products.
McGann, 63, travels to the Cuba once a month. He returned from his latest trip Tuesday.
He said that having an embassy in Havana will be more than symbolic.
"We'd have a commercial attache who could be active" if the embargo is lifted, he said. "We'd have an advocate if there's a problem."
While Obama has made some moves using executive power, only Congress can rescind the embargo imposed more than half a century ago.
The U.S. Embassy in Havana, which reportedly will open July 20, was closed 54 years ago, at the height of the Cold War, and after the communist revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power. Now his brother, Raul Castro, rules.
Juan Guerra, 58, the former director of Accíon Comunal Latino Americano de Montgomery County, a nonprofit social services agency in Norristown, was born in Cuba and came to America as a child after his parents lost faith in Castro's regime.
"I want to see engagement. I want to see change," said Guerra. "I am open to trying out new things.
"At the same time I am concerned that the president is taking unilateral actions and not really getting very much in return."
Richard Gioioso, an assistant professor of political science at Saint Joseph's University, is a Cuba specialist.
Recent polls in America, and Gioioso's research in Cuba, show support for U.S.-Cuba engagement, he said.
"Normalization is a series of events that sooner or later have to take place," he said.
In December, Obama eased some travel restrictions and raised the cap on remittances that could be sent to Cubans.
"Now he's opening the embassy," said Gioioso. "It was inevitable if you are going to normalize."
Roman de la Campa, a University of Pennsylvania professor of romance languages, was born in Havana and like Guerra came to America as a child.
Opening the embassies, he said, is a sign that the death grip that conservative Cubans in Florida held on U.S.-Cuba policy is loosening.
He accepts the president's argument that engaging Cuba, rather than ostracizing it, puts more pressure on its government to democratize.
The recent announcement of future ferry service between Florida and Cuba is an example, he said.
The Cuban government hemmed and hawed, saying it wasn't quite ready and there would have to be dredging, although it seems clear the ferries will sail one day.
It was an example of how developments stemming from Obama's initiative "create pressure that will be liberating."