Poll
finds rising exile support for Obama's Cuba policy
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[April 02, 2015]
(Reuters) - A poll of
Cuban-Americans shows support for the White House's new Cuba policy has
risen in the three months since it was announced, with 51 percent now in
favor of closer engagement with Cuba, up from 44 percent in December.
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The poll by consulting firm Bendixen & Amandi International, and
released in New York on Wednesday, sampled 400 people across the
country's population of approximately 2 million Cuban-Americans,
mostly concentrated in Florida and New Jersey.
Forty percent of those polled said they disagreed with the new
policy.
The White House policy change announced Dec. 17 includes plans to
restore diplomatic relations with Cuba after 54 years, relax travel
restrictions for Americans seeking to visit the island and increase
commercial ties, while leaving intact the U.S. embargo against the
island.
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"In the three months since President Obama's historic announcement,
rather than increasing opposition, the study reveals there is now
slight majority support amongst Cuban-Americans for normalization of
relations with Cuba," said Fernand Amandi, of Bendixen & Amandi
International, a Miami firm which did work for both Obama's
presidential campaigns.
Support among Cuban-Americans living outside Florida's exile enclave
was highest, while older Cuban-Americans born on the island were
more likely to oppose the thaw with Washington's longtime Cold War
foe.
Fifty-four percent of Cuban-Americans over 65 said they were opposed
and 38 percent in favor. But a large majority, 69 percent, of those
aged 18 to 29 were in favor, and only 20 per cent against.
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Forty-nine percent of Cuban-Americans living in Florida said they
disagreed with the effort to normalize relations, while 41 percent
said they agreed. However, 69 percent of Cuban-Americans living
outside Florida agreed with the new policy.
There was also strong support for the new policy allowing Americans
to provide funding for independent businesses owned and operated by
Cubans on the island.
The poll was released in New York at a Cuba Opportunity Summit,
sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School of
business. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 points.
(Reporting by David Adams in Miami; Editing by Ted Botha)
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