After Fidel...what?

Reuters reports today that Raul Castro, Cuba's acting president and brother of ailing president Fidel Castro, extended an "olive branch" to the US:

At a military parade where Cuba rolled out Soviet-era tanks and fighter jets, Raul Castro railed at increased hostility by the Bush administration and condemned the war in Iraq.

But he added: "We take this opportunity to once again state that we are willing to resolve at the negotiating table the long-standing dispute between the United States and Cuba."

I wouldn't exactly call that an olive branch, but it fits with something I've been saying for a long time, namely that no matter who or what succeeds Fidel Castro, a normalization of relations with Cuba will follow. With the Soviet Union dead, once Fidel is gone there'll be no reason not to resume relations with Cuba.