Cuban-Americans' support for President Barack Obama's new
policy on Cuba has grown over the past three months, with more than half of those polled for a new survey saying they support normalizing relations with Cuba.
Fifty-one percent of the 400 Cuban-Americans surveyed by the firm Bendixen & Amandi International last month said they agreed with the policy, where three months ago, just 40 percent agreed, reports
The Miami Herald.
The poll was to be unveiled officially at the Cuba Opportunity Summit in New York City, an event for senior-level business executives looking at opportunities in Cuba.
The poll, which carries a 4.9 percentage point margin of error, asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with Obama's announcement, revealing that among:
All respondents:
- Agree: 51 percent
- Disagree: 40 percent
- Don’t know/no answer: 9 percent
Respondents living in Florida:
- Agree: 41 percent
- Disagree: 49 percent
- Don’t know/no answer: 10 percent
Respondents living in the rest of the U.S.:
- Agree: 69 percent
- Disagree: 23 percent
- Don’t know/no answer: 8 percent
The attitudes were also markedly different between older Cuban-Americans who were born in Cuba and younger generations.
Polling firm principal Fernand Amandi told The Herald, which with The Tampa Bay Times commissioned the first flash poll in December, that the 7-point poll difference surprised him but "in the immediate aftermath [of the policy shift], many people were stunned into silence by the nature of the announcement.”
Other questions included renewing diplomatic relations, allowing Americans to visit the island, cooperating with Cuba on areas of interest like environmental protection, and increasing commercial ties while a trade embargo remains in place.
But while respondents favored the move, they were pessimistic about whether it will end up benefiting the United States.
Just 7 percent said the decision was good for the United States, reflecting a belief that Cuba profited most. But 25 percent said the deal was good for both countries, while 28 percent said they did not think it was good for either country.
More agreed on easing travel restrictions, however, with 56 percent in favor and 35 percent against. In December, 47 percent said they favored easing travel.
Overall, 67 percent of those polled said they plan trips to Cuba in the near future.
But older Cuban-Americans don't want to travel to visit their homeland. Out of people born in Cuba, 75 percent said they have no plans to return, and 85 percent of those 65 and older said they would not make a trip there.
But younger people, ages 18-29, were more likely to travel there. Forty-nine percent said they planned trips, and 25 percent of respondents ages 30-49 said they had travel plans.
Respondents older than 65, though, said they were more supportive of the embargo, with 45 percent saying it should continue and 36 percent saying it should not.
In comparison, 51 percent of those 18-29 said the embargo should stop, and 56 percent of those between the ages of 30 and 49 said it should not go on.
Even with the differences of opinion, Amandi said Cuban-Americans are united by their "antipathy for the current Cuban regime and the Castro brothers."
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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