Havana — From the Bay of Pigs invasion to a historic visit by US President Barack Obama to Havana, Cubans have known for generations that whenever the US turned its face to Cuba, Fidel Castro would be staring right back. But the death of "El Comandante" has added to worry among Cubans that president-elect Donald Trump will slam the door shut on nascent trade and travel ties, undoing two years of detente between the estranged neighbours. Trump has struck a very different tone from Obama, who reached an agreement two years ago with Castro’s younger brother President Raul Castro to end half a century of hostilities. Late in his election campaign, Trump sought to reassure the Cuban-American vote in Florida that he was firm in his opposition to the Castros, and pledged that, if elected, he would close down the newly reopened US embassy in Havana. Earlier on, in the primaries, he said he thought restoring diplomatic ties with Cuba was fine, but that Obama ought to have cut a better deal. ...

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