Cuban President Raul Castro has warned against pinning “excessive hopes” on U.S. President-elect Barack Obama. “[T]hough he may be an honest man, and I think he is, and a sincere man, and I think he is, one man cannot change the destiny of a nation, much less the United States,” Castro said, speaking on state-run television. Still, a Washington Post report from Havana published Wednesday shows many Cuban citizens are hopeful that Obama will end the embargo on Cuba and lift travel restrictions.

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President-elect Barack Obama is expected to announce (WashPost) his energy and environmental policy team at a press conference in Chicago on Monday.

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Several prominent business groups urged President-elect Barack Obama to ease the economic embargo on Cuba (Reuters).

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A large majority of Latinos turned out to vote for Barack Obama on Tuesday, exit polls showed. 67 percent of Latino voters picked Obama overall, while 31 percent voted for Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) in the national election. Hispanic voters helped deliver several crucial states to the Obama campaign, including Florida, Nevada and Colorado.

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The Miami Herald reports today that the economy is trumping U.S. policy toward Cuba as the most important important issue for voters in South Florida’s three congressional races:

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Hoping to ease high gas prices, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) on Sunday announced a plan to crack down on “excessive energy speculation.” The plan includes a measure to fully close the so-called “Enron Loophole,” which the Obama camp says prevents the Commodity Futures Trading Commission from effectively investigating instances where market speculation might be driving up prices.

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Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) suspended her candidacy for the Democratic nomination June 7 . Clinton, who had advanced farther than any woman presidential candidate in U.S. history, sought throughout the campaign season to distinguish her foreign policy agenda from that of her main opponent, Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL).

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Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) won the Puerto Rico Democratic primary on Sunday with 68 percent of the vote to Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) 32 percent. The result did not significantly change Obama’s lead (CNN) in delegates as the five-month primary process nears an end.

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In a column published Monday, former Cuban President Fidel Castro criticized Sen. Barack Obama’s (D-IL) May 23 speech in which he called for “justice for Cuba’s political prisoners, the rights of free speech, a free press and freedom of assembly” and “elections that are free and fair.” Obama said he would maintain the U.S. embargo on Cuba but open up contacts in other areas.

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“There are no better ambassadors for freedom than Cuban Americans. That’s why I will immediately allow unlimited family travel and remittances to the island. It’s time to let Cuban Americans see their mothers and fathers, their sisters and brothers. It’s time to let Cuban American money make their families less dependent upon the Castro regime.”

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