How will improving relations between communist Cuba and the capitalist US affect the lives of people on both sides? Last year, the United States flag was raised in Cuba for the first time in more than five decades, as diplomatic relations between the two states were unfrozen and the American embassy in Havana reopened.This dramatic turnaround was preceded by a series of previously unthinkable shifts in policy enacted by the Cuban government, now led by Fidel Castro's brother, Raul.The president has been opening up Cuba's economy since 2010, permitting Cubans to open private businesses and buy and sell property, while foreign companies can now invest in the island nation.In three reports to be broadcast this month, we look at the reforms that appear to be bringing a return to capitalism ever closer and ask what these changes mean for Cuban citizens and the future of their socialist state.In part one of Cuba Year Zero, we explore what it means for Cuba's socialism to make peace with the US government and ask if this decision reflects recognition by the state of a failure to empower its people.