SUCH is the power of a symbol. A planeload of American journalists was due to fly to Cuba for the day on August 14th to watch John Kerry raise the Stars and Stripes and formally reopen his country’s embassy in Havana after 54 years. Yet should the secretary of state look eastwards along the Malecón, the seafront of crumbling, salt-scarred buildings, towards Old Havana, his view would be obstructed by a forest of flagpoles and an open-air stage adorned with the slogan: ¡Patria o Muerte, Venceremos! (“Fatherland or death, we shall win”). Used over the past 15 years or so for anti-imperialist rallies, there are no immediate plans to dismantle this theatre of agitprop.

The official portrayal in Cuba of the decision by Barack Obama and Raúl Castro to restore diplomatic ties is that it was a victory for Cuban communism’s half-century of stubborn resistance against the American economic embargo. The popular reaction was one of euphoria, a surge of hope that trade, investment, tourists and the almighty dollar will now rain down on the island.

Eight months on, euphoria has given way to cautious expectation tinged with queasy uncertainty. Many American companies will be unable to do business unless or until the United States Congress repeals the embargo (see article). Although Mr Castro has launched potentially far-reaching reforms of Cuba’s sclerotic centrally-planned economy, these are moving slowly. Less than a quarter of the workforce of 5m is employed in a budding private sector.

Even so, change is in Havana’s humid air. Emissaries of American business are sniffing around. In the first seven months of this year, the number of American tourists rose by more than half compared with the same period last year, to 89,000; that figure excludes Cuban-Americans, of whom 164,000 came. To catch their business, scores of 1950s American cars have been lovingly restored. Buick and Pontiac convertibles, in shocking pink, tomato red or powder blue, line up outside the tourist hotels. These are full even in the August low season of broiling heat.

The prospect of an American commercial invasion once the embargo is lifted has galvanised a rush of European and Latin American trade missions and investment proposals. “Now that Cuba has relations with the United States, the country risk has diminished for foreign investors,” says Antonio Romero, an economist at Havana University.

The government expects the economy to grow by 4% this year. To sustain this uptick, additional investment and exports are essential. But the state bureaucracy moves at a glacial pace, especially when it comes to dealing with foreigners. Officials are terrified of taking decisions, partly because some of their predecessors were purged for corruption. The old guard in the Communist Party is suspicious of change. “In Cuba ideology is still more important than the economy, and control is more important than progress,” says Orlando Márquez, who edits a Catholic magazine.