Cubans erupted into celebration Wednesday at news of a historic renewal in relations with the United States, voicing hope the breakthrough would change their lives amid economic decay. In Havana's old town, where overjoyed groups gathered in the street as the news spread, the phrase "historic day" was on many people's lips as the more than 50-year-old Cold War standoff showed signs of ending. "I have goosebumps all over," said Ernesto Perez, 52, who works at a cafeteria in the capital's historic city center. In a sign of the communist island's baby steps toward reform, Perez got the news on his cell phone -- devices President Raul Castro legalized shortly after taking power in 2006 during a health crisis for his older brother Fidel, the father of Cuba's 1959 revolution.



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