After a half-century of Cold War acrimony, the United States and Cuba moved on Wednesday to restore diplomatic relations — a historic shift that could revitalize the flow of money and people across the narrow waters that separate the two nations. “The embargo has hurt the little people of Cuba while the military and others have a degree of privilege,” said Frank Norton Jr., a second-generation Cuban-American and CEO/chairman of the Norton Agency, a Gainesville-based real estate firm.Norton added that while he remains staunchly opposed to the Cuban communist regime, “if we can help the true people of Cuba without enriching the military regime, I’m all for (the changes in diplomatic policy).” President Barack Obama’s dramatic announcement in Washington — seconded by Cuban President Raul Castro in Havana — was accompanied by a quiet exchange of imprisoned spies and the celebratory release of American Alan Gross, a government contract worker who had been held in Cuba for five years.