Cuba’s future remains personal for one Fort Myers family

FORT MYERS, Fla. (WINK) — Inside the Hibiscus House in Fort Myers, Cuban heritage is woven into nearly every detail. From cafecitos and cortaditos to family recipes and traditions, owner Lisette Puebla has built a business that celebrates the culture her family brought with them to the United States.

But behind those traditions is a family story shaped by Cuba’s communist revolution, one that still influences how she views developments on the island today.

As the Trump administration increases pressure on Cuba’s government and Secretary of State Marco Rubio describes the island as a national security concern, Puebla says many Cuban-American families are watching closely.

“My mom’s family left Cuba in ’61,” Puebla said. “My husband left Cuba in ’96.”

Puebla is a first-generation American. Her husband, a physician, left Cuba nearly three decades ago after working as a doctor in Havana.

At the time, she said, he earned about $26 a month.

While her family eventually built a life in the United States, Puebla says the effects of the Cuban revolution reached across generations.

She shared a decades-old letter that her family says documented the execution of her grandfather in 1961.

According to Puebla, her grandfather was involved in anti-Castro efforts after Fidel Castro took power. She says he was captured, subjected to what the family believes was a sham trial, and executed the following day by firing squad.

“My grandfather got caught, and they basically had a false trial, and the next day he was executed by a firing squad,” Puebla said.

She also says her father was captured following the Bay of Pigs invasion and spent two years imprisoned in Cuba.

The experiences left a lasting mark on the family.

“It really humbles you,” Puebla said. “My family, my grandmother, my great-grandmother, my husband,  they love this country. They would never speak ill about the United States because this is where they were welcomed and they were able to live freely with freedom of speech and go after opportunities.”

More than six decades later, Puebla says family members who remain in Cuba continue to face significant challenges.

She says ongoing power outages, food shortages, and economic hardship are not new realities for many Cubans.

“They’ve gone weeks, days without power, but it’s not something new,” Puebla said. “They are struggling worse today than they have been, especially in rural areas.”

The comments come as Washington and Havana face renewed tensions.

Last week, Rubio said Cuba remains a national security threat because of its ties to U.S. adversaries and intelligence activities. At the same time, he emphasized that the administration’s preference remains a diplomatic solution.

Retired FBI Special Agent Richard Kolko says Cuba has remained a focus for U.S. intelligence and national security officials for decades.

“Since the revolution in 1959, Cuba has been a national security issue for the United States,” Kolko said.

Kolko points to Cuba’s proximity to Florida, just 90 miles away, along with its relationships with countries including Russia and China, as reasons the U.S. continues to closely monitor developments on the island.

For Puebla, however, the issue is about more than geopolitics.

She says many Cuban-Americans continue to hope for political and economic change that would allow future generations to reconnect with a homeland many families were forced to leave behind.

Every New Year’s Eve, she recalls, older relatives would raise a toast with the same wish.

“They would always say, ‘This is the year we’re going to see a free Cuba,’” Puebla said. “I know a lot of them passed with that hope and that dream.”

Puebla says she hopes to visit Cuba with her children and grandchildren one day. Not as tourists, but as family members returning to a country they have longed to see again for generations.