Seventy-three-year-old retired banker Bernardo Benes negotiated the release of 3,600 political prisoners in 1978, as well as ensuring the right of Cuban exiles to visit family still on the island. Now, he’s hoping to meet with Raul Castro in order to discuss what it is that Cuba’s government would like to see come forth from Barack Obama’s administration. Says Benes:

“I want to be a loose cannon,” said the 73-year-old retired banker. “I know Raul Castro will meet with me. We were teammates on the soccer team at the University of Havana. They trust me. My only hesitation is that they might think I have a message from Obama and they would be disappointed that I don’t.”

The outcome of such a meeting — especially Obama’s reaction — could prove to be controversial. Although Obama was able to secure the Florida vote, he did not win the approval of predominantly Republican Cuban-Americans in that state. Sitting down with Raul Castro or conceding to him may result in even less support from this particular group - a fact which some people think is unimportant:

The victory of Florida’s congressional hardliners on Cuba policy — all of whom supported Republican presidential candidate John McCain — could be a blessing for Obama if he wants to break with the failed strategy of forcing reform by withholding trade and contact, said John McAuliff of the Fund for Reconciliation and Development, which advocates improving ties with Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Cuba.

“President-elect Obama owes nothing to these folks who were key supporters of McCain,” McAuliff said of Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and brothers Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, whose aunt Mirta was married to Fidel Castro in the 1950s.

One huge point of contention is allowing exiles to return to the island because it might allow American tourists to also visit, effectively helping them financially support Cuba’s government and locations like beaches, hotels and restaurants not accessible to most Cubans living on the island. Benes, however, believes that now is the time to change the exile community’s attitudes and the United Sates’ policies towards relations with Cuba:

“It’s really stupid what we have done for 50 years. Nobody benefits,” Benes said. “It’s a complex we have that is preventing this. Nobody wants to accept that they’ve failed.”

Benes will go to Havana via a third country, he said, without any political mandate. He said he doesn’t need a Treasury Department license exempting him from the travel embargo because he is a credentialed journalist with Our Elder Brothers and Sisters, a foundation he runs for strengthening interfaith relations.

However, he will not make the trip until someone on Obama’s team is willing to hear him out upon his return:

“I know people will call me naive, but you can get a lot accomplished under the cover of naivete,” he said. “I know because that’s what was said when I went to Cuba to bring back the first group of political prisoners.”

Oh God. There are going to be so many fists pounding on the table and ruining dominos matches at Versailles this week.

Supporters of closer Cuba ties see a chance with Obama’s win [LA Times]