U.S. improving relations with Cuba

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The first commercial flight since improved relations between the U.S. and Cuba, left from Los Angeles to Havana this weekend. Cuba is a country that has struggled but many say economic improvements are starting to show.

"I like Cuba. I love Cuba. I like la vida. You like the life here?" one man told Eyewitness News.

Cuban Daniel Solis is a college graduate and a registered nurse, but he's not putting his degree to work.

"I'm driving, driving a bike because I got to earn my livelihood this way because other way is not possible," he said.

Daniel, like his older brother, is a bike taxi -- by choice. He hopes to make $120 this month. That is double the salary he made as a government nurse.

It was back in 1960 that the United States imposed the embargo against Cuba. It was designed to crush the dictatorship, but the Castros haven't gone anywhere.

Political change is on the horizon.

"Is that a good thing," we asked.

"We have to wait and see. I think that it's going to be okay for Cuba," Cuban artist Alia Alfonzo said.

Like others here, Alfonso says he can sense it, feel it, and with open arms, the younger generation welcomes it.