Tampa-Cuba Bond: Cigar Tradition & Economic Ties

0:00It's April 28, I'm Cory with the story, this is Tampa Bay News today, driven by AI. Tampa and Cuba share bond that's 90 miles wide, and over a century deep, rooted in E-Boer City's cigar boom. Back in the late 1800s, Cuban workers like Vicente Martina Zybor are turned a quiet golf town into a powerhouse, and today, the JC Newman. Cigar Company keeps that tradition rolling, as America's last big factory. Fast forward, U.S. sanctions have kept relations on ice for decades, but Obama cracked the door with ease travel. Ships sailed straight from Tampa to Ivana, drawing hundreds of thousands of Americans who spent big and saw the real Cuba up close. Folks on the ground lit up with hope back then. Cubans made cash from tourists, faces beaming with new opportunities. Leaders like Victor, who's been there on delegations, say the people crave economic ties with Florida, but they've only known their system their whole. Lives.

1:00Now under Trump, pressure ramps up through Cuba's Venezuelans with a link with Secretary of State Marco Rubio pushing hard. The endgame? Force change or thaw for business, but Victor stresses he backs to people, not the regime. Real ships can't be imposed from afar. They got a bubble up from Cubans themselves, unlocking dreams for both islands and boosting spots like Tampa in the process.