Katie Couric's Notebook: Cuba

(AP)

It would be one of the most dramatic foreign policy about-faces ever. A bipartisan bill in Congress would end the 47-year-old trade freeze with Cuba. It has only spotty support so far, but President Obama has already taken some baby steps: letting Cuban-Americans visit family members and send them money. But for most of us, it is still a place that is strictly off limits.

The trade embargo made sense a half century ago. During the cold war, Fidel Castro took sides with the enemy, but the Soviet Union is long gone and it's a policy that most Americans alive today can't relate to.

Now it's up to Fidel and Raoul Castro. President Obama says he wants to see democratic reforms, particularly on human rights and free speech. So, Congress will be looking for signs of change.

After almost 50 years, U.S. policy will not reverse overnight. Relations remain chilly, but for the first time in generations, a thaw is possible.

That's a page from my notebook.

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