Oakland Rep. Barbara Lee shakes hands with Cuban President Raul Castro in  Havana. She met with him for five hours.

Carla Marinucci, Chronicle Political Writer

Rep. Barbara Lee of Oakland, who led a historic trip of members of Congress to Cuba this week, met with Fidel Castro at his home and says the former Cuban president sees President Obama as "a good person and good for America."

And the message of Castro, 82, and his brother, Cuban President Raul Castro, 77, was clear throughout, she said: "It's time to talk to Cuba" about normalizing relations.

Lee said the unusually positive assessment from Fidel Castro regarding an American president - and her unusually intimate meeting with the retired leader - dramatized the potential for improved U.S.-Cuban relations at the start of the Obama administration. The Oakland Democrat spoke to The Chronicle just hours after returning from a five-day trip by six members of the Congressional Black Caucus.

Her visit to the Havana home of Fidel Castro, who had not met with American officials since 2005, along with the delegation's meeting with Raul Castro, provided a rare look at what she described as a feisty and engaged Fidel Castro as well as the evolving views in Cuba of the United States and its leadership.

"He looks great, energetic, clear-thinking, talkative ... he's doing a lot of writing and talked a lot about the new president," said Lee, chairwoman of the Black Caucus. "He thinks (Obama) is smart, intelligent, a good person and good for America," she said.

Lee met with President Raul Castro for nearly five hours. It marked his first face-to-face discussions with American political leaders since he took office. Lee said she also met with Cuba's minister of trade and investment and other government officials.
'Cubans want dialogue'

"I was convinced in all of our meetings that the Cubans do want dialogue - but they want it based on sovereignty and self-determination," she said. "And everything is up for discussion ... they did not leave anything off the table. They said that there's nothing that we won't talk about - and they said that over and over again."

Raul Castro, she said, was "very delightful, very engaging, he's got a great sense of humor ... (he's) very smart and organized. He talked about diversity ... he said, 'We want normal relations with America.' "

The discussion included issues such as possible mutual efforts to combat the drug trade and human trafficking as well as how to increase trade between the two countries, though Lee said the discussion did not include any "specifics" about remedies.
'Broad exchange of ideas'

In an official release, the Cuban government described the visit as "a broad exchange of ideas on many topics, with emphasis on the future evolution of bilateral relations and economic ties after the arrival of a new U.S. administration."

Lee said she plans to communicate her findings to Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other legislative leaders. "The message is that it's time to talk to Cuba," she said.

Lee has taken numerous trips to Cuba - which Jan. 1 celebrated the 50th anniversary of its revolution - leading delegations of nonprofits, educational groups and legislators. But she said that, after years of Bush administration efforts to shut off all educational and trade exchange with Cuba, the mood has changed with the election of Obama because of "how much he is revered in the Caribbean and Latin America and Cuba."

The Oakland congresswoman said that was evident when she - along with Rep. Bobby Rush of Chicago and Rep. Laura Richardson of Long Beach - were specifically invited to Fidel Castro's home, what she described as "a very modest" Havana dwelling.

She said she was surprised to be met at the gate by Castro's wife, Dalia Soto del Valle, who is only rarely mentioned in the Cuban media. "There were no barricades, but beautiful plants and trees," Lee said. "We walked in, and there he was, standing at the door."

Though past media reports have suggested Castro's health was in serious decline and even that he was near death, Lee said it appeared "he's really bounced back."

She called it a "very moving" meeting, saying that Castro - who took copious notes - specifically asked the delegation to provide him with reading materials and books about Dr. Martin Luther King.

In a column posted on his government's Web site Monday, Fidel Castro praised Lee and others who made the trip, saying that he "values the gesture of the legislative group."

No dissidents on this trip

"They are witnesses to the respect with which Americans who visit our homeland are always received," Castro wrote.

Though Lee said some of her past fact-finding visits to Cuba have involved discussions with dissident leaders in the country, this one did not because "we wanted to strictly focus on what it would take to normalize relations with Cuba."

In recent years, a growing number of U.S. politicians have shown support for lifting the travel ban and the embargo on trade - and some recent polls suggest more than two-thirds of Americans support normalized relations with Cuba, Lee said.
Policy change will be tough

But any change in policy is "going to be hard," she acknowledged. "The president can, through executive order, almost wipe out the embargo ... he may or may not want to do that. But we have to work on the legislative front to make sure Congress supports the efforts."

The issue is likely to be a topic for the president April 17-19 at the Summit of the Americas in Trinidad.

"I'm pleased and proud of the fact that he is moving to relax restrictions on family travel," she said of Obama's plan to ease restrictions on family travel and remittances to Cuba. "He's going in the right direction."

E-mail Carla Marinucci at cmarinucci@sfchronicle.com.