For lawyers assessing how Fidel Castro’s death might affect economic and other relations with Cuba, the answer is a seeming paradox: It means both very little and a lot.

On one hand, the 90-year-old Castro had been out of office in Cuba for nearly a decade, and his arguably more pragmatic younger brother Raul Castro has had the keys for years. On the other hand, historically, the death of an iconic figure can trigger a psychological shift.