HAVANA,march 28th   A week after President Barack Obama visited his country, Roberto Hernandez sits with friends drinking a beer now that life is back to normal here.

It was quite a week. Obama toured Old Havana with his family and met with Cuba leader Raul Castro. There also was a Major League Baseball game Tuesday with the Tampa Bay Rays and The Rolling Stones concert on Friday.

But things are quieter now as Hernandez visits at a cafe with friends, Juan Dominguez and Maritza Perez. The three relaxed, reflecting on Obama’s historic visit.

Hernandez, a 52-year-old shoemaker, made a point of staying home last week to watch Obama’s visit on television. “I was interested in what he was going to say,” Hernandez said. “I wanted to listen to it in his own voice, what he wants to do.”

At an unprecedented news conference with Castro, Obama said the U.S. still has differences with Cuba in several areas, like freedom of expression, assembly and religion. And he said only Cubans can chart their future.

“He spoke well,” Hernandez said. “It’s true that the future of Cuba has to be determined by all the Cubans.”

A few feet away, holding their bikes filled with boxes of flowers in a busy street near the Colon cemetery, Michael Cardoso, 37, and Yusniel Tabares, 32, said they didn’t watch the news conference or Obama’s speech. They, like many Cubans, were working. But they have heard what he said.

“What he has to do is to take us to the U.S.,” Tabares said, half joking. Tabares said he has heard Obama talking about ways the U.S. can help the Cuban people. Asked if the thinks those promises will be fulfilled, Tabares said, “Let’s see.”

Cardoso said he has heard people comment about Castro’s brash response during the news conference with Obama that there aren’t political prisoners in Cuba. “What happens is that freedom of expression is tighter here than in other places,” Cardoso said. And he likes that Obama mentioned the issue. “I think it’s good that he mentioned it,” he said. “It’s true.”

Cardoza said he hopes for economic opportunities in Cuba, so he liked hearing Obama promote American businesses that will come to the island. Cardoza said the embargo is not to blame for all of Cuba’s economic problems. Supplies from the U.S., he says, are bought through third countries, although at a higher price. But there are also Cuba products that are unaffordable.

“And I am middle class, I have a business,” he said. “Those who live out of retirement can’t do anything.” Many Cubans received Obama warmly, giving him high marks for his visit and the efforts he’s making to improve relations with the country. Dominguez, 59, who sat with Hernandez as he drank a beer, said he always thought Obama was a smart man.

“He is a brave man,” Dominguez said. “That, above everything. He is very, very brave,” Perez agrees. Perez, 44, used to work in a restaurant and would like to set up a paladar, a private restaurant. She said she liked that Obama had a meal at a paladar in Old Havana. “We know a waiter who served him,” she said. “He was so glad. He didn’t know whether to sit down or stand.”

Obama, during his visit, told Cubans he supports removing the trade embargo, but he said Congress must act to lift it. Perez said she wants the embargo lifted and would like both countries to start communicating and negotiating again to reach an understanding.

“Everything can be achieved with respect,” she said. “He spoke with a lot of respect.” Sabrina Valdes, 65, said she is surprised Obama cannot end the embargo. “How is it that a Congress is worth more than a president?” she asked.

Valdes, who said she didn’t pay much attention to Obama, said she owes many things to the Cuban revolution and stands by Fidel Castro. She is from the countryside, she said, and is about to retire.

The U.S. embargo, she said, hit the country hard since she was a child, and that’s something she won’t forget. She said she doesn’t mind not having freedom of expression, and that every country has its human rights problems. Cubans have free education and health care, she said, while some U.S. children go to school hungry.

But Lili Blanco has a different view. Blanco, Tabares’ wife who sells flowers with him, said Obama’s visit was a positive thing for the country. “People say he is good, that he is bringing good things,” she said.

Antonio and Sandra Camacho Rodríguez, both in the background, named their bakery in Havana the Burner Brothers, a reference to all the cookies they scorched on their way to opening the shop. Credit Mauricio Lima for The New York Times

HAVANA,march 26th (New York Times) As an inside joke about all the cookies they scorched on the road to establishing a successful bakery, Antonio and Sandra Camacho Rodríguez named their Havana sweets shop the Burner Brothers.

To them, it was a metaphor for the relentless trial and error it took for two inexperienced and untrained chefs — she is a doctor, and her brother was a salesman — to start a business in a communist country that was taking its first steps in private enterprise.

As tens of thousands of Cuban millennials give up on Cuba and head north, the Camachos are part of an expanding class of entrepreneurs who are opting to remain, betting on Cuba’s future despite serious challenges.

“There’s an extremely powerful emerging market right now in Cuba,” said Mr. Camacho, 26, standing in their tiny shop, where cookies are 10 cents each, in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood. “To me, it’s easier to become part of an emerging market than to try to make it in some other country, where the market was created years ago.”

As President Obama met with President Raúl Castro of Cuba on Monday, a surprising statistic loomed over the two leaders: More than twice as many Cubans went to live in the United States last year than in 1959, when Mr. Castro’s brother Fidel came to power and unleashed a wave of migration that altered South Florida forever.

While Mr. Obama attended a conference Monday afternoon with American business leaders and new entrepreneurs who are breathing life into a dying economy here, Cuba is bleeding doctors, small-business owners, construction workers and waitresses. Even with the country’s new restaurateurs and innkeepers, more beauticians have put down their clippers and more farmers have left their crops behind.

“I think some people suffer from a lack of vision,” Mr. Camacho said. “Many people also live in a precarious situation, in humble surroundings or even extreme poverty.”

Recent migration patterns cast doubt on how much faith Cubans have in private-sector reforms. Last week, after Costa Rica cleared out dozens of shelters filled with Cuban migrants, sending them on the United States, 1,000 more showed up at its border with Panama.

“If you take a census of Cuba now, I’m not sure what would be left,” said Jenny Heredia Ocaña, 33, a former hospital administrator who recently closed her beauty salon in Havana and left for the United States.

On her way she was marooned for months in Costa Rica, shuffling between migrant shelters where she encountered thousands of fellow Cubans.

CUBA ON THE EDGE OF CHANGE It’s a land of endless waiting and palpable erosion. Yet after all these decades, an uncanny openness among the Cuban people remains.Photographs by THE NEW YORK TIMES

Federal figures show that at least 63,000 Cubans moved to the United States last year, the bulk of them crossing the southwestern border on foot. More than 250,000 Cubans have been granted residency during the Obama administration alone — enough to populate a city almost the size of Orlando, Fla.

In 2014, 122,000 Cubans were on the waiting list to join their families, one of the longest lists for American visas in the world.

“If the Cuban economy continues to falter, many Cubans will vote with their feet,” said Richard E. Feinberg, the author of “Open for Business,” a book about Cuba’s new economy.

Yet even as tens of thousands of Cubans have given up on their homeland, millions have opted to stay.

“Maybe 50,000 or 75,000 people left — that still means 11.2 million are still there,” said Mr. Feinberg, whose book includes a chapter on millennials who have chosen to remain in Cuba.

Under new rules that allow private enterprise, the Cuban government had issued about 496,000 small business licenses by the end of last year. Nearly one-third of those business owners are young people.

“When people started to travel and could do so without being forced to stay abroad, it changed life here — the way people lived, the way they dressed,” said Emisleidy Maza Ramos, 27, who holds a number of jobs, including at her boyfriend’s food delivery business. “There’s a difference in the air.”

Alvin Pino Estrada, the owner of D’ Abuela (“Grandma’s”), opened his business a month ago and employs 12 people. He said he struggled to find supplies like napkins and plastic forks, raw materials like potatoes, and industrial equipment.

“It has to work,” said Mr. Pino Estrada, a former musician who returned to Cuba after living in Spain for three years. “I’m not motivated to leave.”

Charles Shapiro, a former American ambassador to Venezuela who heads the World Affairs Council of Atlanta and travels frequently to Cuba, said people who stayed were increasingly able to live comfortably, particularly in contrast to neighbors who earn $25 a month in state jobs.

“I met a tour guide who was recently offered a scholarship to get a master’s in Washington, who makes $1,000 a week in tips,” Mr. Shapiro said. “He’s staying.”

The biggest problem in growing entrepreneurship, he added, is the stranglehold on the supply chain.

“The supply of spare parts, for food, for toilet paper, it’s in the hands of the government,” he said.

Igor Thondike, who worked as a glassmaker in Cuba and recently moved to Tampa, Fla., said many new business owners back home could not get materials. Shoemakers, he said, could not find leather and “lost their investments.”

Ihosvany Oscar Artiles Ferrer, 44, a veterinarian who worked in Camagüey but recently moved to Queens, said the lack of wholesalers to buy supplies from made it difficult to eke out a profit.

“The private business is like a handkerchief the government puts over everything to be able to say to the United Nations that in Cuba people own small businesses,” Mr. Artiles said.

“In the beginning, almost all of us were revolutionaries,” he added. “But now, we quit all that because we don’t believe in Fidel, in the revolution, in socialism or anything.”

The Obama administration clearly hopes that as the Castro government moves toward economic reform and Washington permits more commerce and travel, more Cubans will stay put, slowing the steady stream of exits that has contributed to a broader migration crisis.

But Cuba also benefits from those who leave. Many businesses on the island begin with the remittances émigrés send back from the United States. The Camachos said that it took about $25,000 to start a business like their cookie company, and that they were fortunate to count on American citizens in their immediate family.

Benjamin J. Rhodes, the White House’s point man on Cuba, said last week that “greater economic activity in the island is going to be good for the Cuban people.”

“It’s going to be a source of empowerment for them,” said Mr. Rhodes, the president’s deputy national security adviser. “It’s going to improve their livelihoods.”

But Cuba’s foreign minister, Bruno Rodríguez, scoffed at the empowerment reference and blamed Washington for the exodus. Many Cubans have said they have rushed to leave because they fear that after normalizing relations, Mr. Obama will do away with migratory policies that give Cubans special status in the United States.

Such American laws are “selective, politically motivated and encourage illegal, unsafe and disorderly migration,” Mr. Rodríguez said at a news conference on Thursday.

Holly Ackerman, who studies Cuban migration at Duke University, said this recent wave of migration was still smaller than other episodes, like the rafter exodus in 1994 and the Mariel boatlift in 1980, which were directly prompted by the Cuban government.

“This is a self-initiated surge,” Ms. Ackerman said. “If it were government-initiated surge, it would be a stampede at this point.”

HAVANA, CUBA – MARCH 22: U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro visit during an exhibition game between the Cuban national team and the Major League Baseball team Tampa Bay Devil Rays at the Estado Latinoamericano March 22, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. This is the first time a sittng president has visited Cuba in 88 years. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

HAVANA, march 22 (AP)  In a landmark game attended by presidents Barack Obama and Raul Castro, theTampa Bay Rays beat the Cuban national team 4-1 Tuesday in the first visit by a major league team  in Cuba since 1999.

James Loney homered and drove in three runs, and Matt Moore and the Tampa Bay pitchers shut out the Cubans until Rudy Reyes homered in the ninth inning.

But the game will be remembered less for the final score than for the two men sitting in the front row at Estadio Latinoamericano.

The near-capacity crowd roared as Obama and Castro entered and walked toward their seats right behind home plate, waving to fans and greeting other dignitaries.

Shants of “Raul! Raul!” broke out.

As the two countries try to heal more than 50 years of Cold War animosity, Obama and Castro sitting side-by-side was a remarkable sight. Obama wore a white shirt and sunglasses, Castro more formal in a blazer.

The presidents took part when the fans tried to get “the wave” going early. Obama later signaled safe when Kevin Kiermaier safely slid home for the first run, then shook hands with Castro.

HAVANA, CUBA – MARCH 22: Tampa Bay Rays Steve Pearce dives safely into third base during the exhibition game between the Cuban national team and the Tampa Bay Rays of the Major League Baseball at the Estado Latinoamericano March 22, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. U.S. President Barack Obama attended the game after becoming the first sittng president to visit Cuba in 88 years. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This was the first time since the Baltimore Orioles came 17 years ago during spring training that a big league club played in Cuba.

Rarely has so much pomp and circumstance accompanied an exhibition game. Former All-Stars Derek Jeter and Dave Winfield and Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred were among the president’s greeters. Secretary of State John Kerry was also in the VIP box, as well as several of Cuba’s highest officials.

Before the first pitch, Rays players walked over from the dugout to say hello and passed flowers and small Cuban flags through the netting to first lady Michelle Obama and first daughter Sasha.

“Appreciate you guys,” the president said.

Obama shared an extended handshake with ace pitcher Chris Archer, who once was a minor leaguer for the Chicago Cubs. He gave Obama, a White Sox fan, a glove owned by Moore.

Both Obama and Castro were gone by the third inning — with Obama heading to the airport to fly south for a state visit to Argentina — but the stands remained packed until the final out.

What the game lacked in runs from the home team, it made up for in pageantry.

Loud music and dancers on the field warmed the crowd up beforehand, and tots in tiny baseball uniforms escorting the players out during introductions.

A white-clad choir sang both countries’ national anthems and a flock of doves was unleashed from the center-field stands. The Cuban and U.S. flags fluttered atop scoreboard.

The stadium known as “El Latino” got a facelift just before the Rays’ visit, providing a freshly scrubbed backdrop.

“It’s beautiful. The field looks marvelous,” said Guillermo Gonzalez, an 18-year-old university student. “We are celebrating a union between two peoples, between the United States and Cuba. It’s marvelous.”

The stands were notably more mellow than your average Cuban game, where the music, dancing and horn-blowing can be practically nonstop.

Admission was free, and tickets were distributed to Cubans through organizations such as student groups and workplaces. That essentially assured a well-behaved crowd and with no government opponents around to protest.

Maria Ester Mendoza Alvarez, a 52-year-old university professor, agreed that cultural exchanges like this one can help heal geopolitical schisms, but

“Forget all the politics — we are going to enjoy this as a game, nothing more,” Mendoza said.

Rays players tossed baseballs to the fans during warmups. During warmups, Tampa Bay pitcher Steve Geltz and others tossed a dozen or so baseballs into the stands.

Then there was a deafening roar as the national team took the field. The fans also sang the “Ole” soccer popular with soccer fans around the planet.

HAVANA, CUBA – MARCH 22: U.S. President Barack Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro greet players from the Tampa Bay Rays before an exhibition game between the Cuban national team and the Major League Baseball at the Estado Latinoamericano March 22, 2016 in Havana, Cuba. This is the first time a sittng president has visited Cuba in 88 years. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

The trip was also a homecoming for Tampa right fielder Dayron Varona, who was born in Havana and spent seven years playing in Cuba before hopping a boat to Haiti in 2013, and was seeing some relatives for the first time since then.

“This is something I didn’t believe until I hugged my niece,” Varona said Monday after seeing relatives in Cuba. “Because it’s been three years that I don’t see them, and it’s something very thrilling but also very painful.”

Varona was first to bat Tuesday. He flied out to first, to polite applause.

Luis Tiant, a three-time MLB all-star, and Pedro Luis Lazo, who had a long career with Cuban club Pinar del Rio and the national team, threw out the first pitches.

The stadium observed a minute of silence before the game in memory of the Brussels attacks

HAVANA, march 22  It’s official: Cruise giant Carnival Corp. (CCL) will launch its first voyages from the USA to Cuba in May.

The parent company of Carnival, Princess and eight other cruise brands on Monday said the Cuban government had approved its previously announced plans to begin sailings to the island nation out of Miami.

The cruises, which already are on sale, will be operated bi-weekly by the company’s new social impact-focused Fathom brand, which will debut in April with volunteer vacations to the Dominican Republic. The trips will take place on Fathom’s 704-passenger Adonia, a former P&O Cruises vessel.

The announcement came during President Barack Obama’s historic trip to Cuba. Obama has normalized relations with the Communist country and is loosening restrictions for U.S. travelers to Cuba that are tied to the decades-long U.S. trade embargo. While the embargo still exists, the Fathom cruises to Cuba now fall under an exception to the embargo for “people-to-people” travel

Tourists take a selfie while sitting in a vintage car outside the Quinta Avenida Habana Hotel in Havana, March 19, 2016. REUTERS/Stringer

HAVANA, march 20th (Reuters) Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide (HOT.N) on Saturday became the first U.S. hotel company to sign a deal with Cuba since the 1959 revolution, announcing a multimillion-dollar investment a day before U.S. President Barack Obama was due to visit Havana.

Starwood will manage and market two properties in Havana and signed a letter of intent to operate a third.

Such deals would normally be prohibited under the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba, but Starwood received special permission from the U.S. Treasury Department last week.

Jorge Giannattasio, chief of Latin American operations, said the deals included a “multimillion-dollar investment to bring the hotels up to our standards,” making Starwood the first U.S. company to commit major money to Cuba since Fidel Castro and his bearded rebels overthrew a pro-American government on Jan. 1, 1959.

Castro quickly nationalized the tourism industry and made the Habana Hilton the new government headquarters for months.

Cuba’s tourism industry has boomed since the December 2014 rapprochement with the United States. International visitors rose 17 percent to a record 3.5 million in 2015, including a 77 percent increase in American visitors to 161,000.

Cuba expects a similar increase in American visitors this year when scheduled airline service will resume despite a continued ban on tourism. Americans are allowed to travel to Cuba for 12 authorized purposes.

“The amount of travelers will skyrocket with direct flights,” Giannattasio said.

Obama relaxed restrictions further this week. Americans no longer need special permission to travel, or use guides, but must self-police their activities and keep records for five years.

Obama has called for Congress to do away with the 54-year-old embargo but has been opposed by the leadership of the Republican majority.

Starwood will operate the military-owned Gaviota 5th Avenue Hotel under its Four Points Sheraton brand, and the state-owned Gran Caribe Inglaterra Hotel under its Luxury Collection brand.

The deal could help Obama use his historic trip to showcase what he sees as the benefits of Washington’s diplomatic opening with the former Cold War foe after decades of hostility.

But Starwood, which is subject to a takeover battle, may not be American for long.

China’s Anbang Insurance Group Co made a $13-billion cash offer for Starwood on Friday, surpassing by nearly 15 percent a previous cash and stock offer by Marriott International Inc. (MAR.O) Marriott has until March 28 to make a counteroffer.

“We do not comment until a deal is executed,” Giannattasio said.