William Leo Grand

Well, the economic situation is really desperate and it's getting worse every day.

The electricity is out more hours of the day than it's on in most parts of the island.

Water is out if you live in a multi-story building where the water gets pumped up to you on electric pumps.

And there's not enough food in the stores that people can afford to buy.

So people are frustrated and angry at the situation.

And as I say, it's only getting worse since the United States imposed this oil blockade, which is preventing fuel from getting into the country.

Cuba depends on the import of oil

for about 60% of its energy supply.

So without any imports at all, the economy just can't continue to function.

One of the problems is that there isn't really any organized opposition in Cuba.

There's really broad, diffuse discontent with how things are.

But when people try to organize an opposition, they either end up or being forced into exile.

And so most of your real leaders of opposition in Cuba today live in Miami or Madrid.

The reports that we've heard so far about the ongoing negotiations focus really on the Cuban government making economic concessions to both their own private sector and also to the United States.

One other area that I think we're going to hear more about is the ability of Cuban Americans to invest directly in Cuba and own some of these small businesses.

That's something the Cuban community abroad has been asking for for a long time, and the government has been reluctant to allow that.