If you're visiting Miami, there's a possibility you may encounter some people who were born in Cuba or who are second or third-generation members of Cuban families.

With some confidence, you may launch into a conversation with distinct opinions on Fidel Castro, Cuba's long-time leader (although now his health problems have made him the "power behind the throne").

Note: I learned from living 11 years in Panama that native-born Americans often think they know a lot about foreign countries because they "read it in the newspaper" or "saw it on TV" or "heard somebody talk about it." In my own view, native-born Americans often think that anyone who speaks Spanish eats tacos, wears a serape and a sombrero, and owns a donkey. Big mistake. And that all Spanish-speaking people know each other. "Hey, I bet you know Jose Garcia!"

What I have learned, since moving to Miami in 2001, is that:

• Fidel Castro can be an explosive conversation topic among Cubans.
• Some Cubans hate Castro intensely, pointing to imprisonments, property loss, and torture that their family members have suffered at one time or another.
• Some Cubans are not so hostile toward Fidel Castro. Third-generation Cubans may favor the U.S. resumption of normal trade and political relations with Cuba, for a variety of reasons.
• Cubans in Miami keep in close touch with friends and relatives in Cuba (I don't pretend to fully understand how this works), and they have their own information "grapevine" on what's currently going on in that island 90 miles off Florida's coast. This information rarely makes it into the U.S. media channels.
• Cubans, whatever their perspective on Fidel Castro, resent non-Cubans who, without invitation, freely state opinions on Castro and relations with Cuba.
• The best skill that a non-Cuban can use, when conversing with Cubans in Miami, is the listening skill. Ask honest questions, listen to the answers, and hold back from stating snap judgments.
  
• Cubans who encounter gringo tourists in Miami will probably not bring up Castro as a conversation topic, probably considering it more as "family business" that the gringo isn't informed enough to talk about.
• U. S. political candidates, visiting Miami in an appeal to the Hispanic vote, have made fatal errors by making uninformed comments (on one side or another) about relations with Cuba. Such candidates really need advice from Hispanic experts on how to frame statements about relations with Cuba---the wrong word at the wrong time in front of the wrong audience produces a mine field ready to explode.
• A side-note: The Versailles Restaurant, located on Calle Ocho (8th Street Southwest) in Miami, is the place that these U.S. politicians often choose as a meeting place with Cuban community leaders in Miami. This restaurant (an excellent place for Spanish food, by the way) has become a symbol the U.S. politicos use to say, "I really like Hispanics; that's why I came to the Versailles." I am sure that there are Cuban-American voters in Miami who just smile and say, "Right! We get it!" They know that this is part of the game for votes.
• U.S.-based tourists, who fly into Miami for a weekend in the sun and surf, are probably not focusing on Cuban politics as a dinner table or cocktail topic. But, just in case the name of Fidel Castro comes up in conversation, the gringo tourist is best advised to become a student, not a teacher in the situation. You may fly out of Miami with the same opinion of Castro that you came in with, but you will have added some information to your database on the topic.