Trump is expected to announce this Friday in Miami the results of the overhaul he set in motion, as soon has he took power, of the renewal of diplomatic relations with Cuba, begun by Obama and Cuban President Raul Castro in December 2014.

There has been much focus on Donald Trump’s erratic foreign policy -- the outlandish positions, the many flip-flops, the mistakes. But far more damaging in the long run might be what some have termed the Trump effect -- the impact of Trump on the domestic politics of other countries. That effect appears to be powerful, negative and enduring. It could undermine decades of American foreign policy successes.

Oscar López Rivera is one of those prisoners. On May 29 the 73-year-old Puerto Rican will mark 35 years in U.S. federal prisons, 13 of them in solitary confinement. His crime? Fighting for independence for his homeland.

First things first: Fidel Castro’s letter criticizing Obama’s speech in Havana, will not — I repeat, will not — derail, stop or even slow down the process of normalizing relations between Cuba and the U.S. And that’s good.

If you thought Barack Obama was the big ticket this year in Havana, think again. The President of the United States, for all his charisma and courage in traveling to Cuba putting aside half century of relentless enmity, was only the opening act for the Rolling Stones, a band that is a monument to the improbable stamina and endurance of old —and I mean, old— people.

Forget the pomp and circumstance, the real importance of President Obama’s visit to Cuba, particularly his speech at the Gran Teatro de La Habana was, without a doubt, the fact that it happened. Everything else is not only debatable, but secondary.

Yes, almost 60 years of secret wars, multiple attempts to kill Fidel Castro and a vicious trade embargo that characterized Washington’s approach to Cuba, have metamorphosed into a veritable gold rush of U.S. businesses of all kinds eager to mine whatever riches the Caribbean nation has to offer.