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 For the most part, his friends and acquaintances, many of them
second- and third-generation Cuban Americans, responded warmly when
they found out about his visit, said Magill, 55, who toured the
island in April with U.S. zoo and aquarium directors.
"I've been surprised at the lack of negative responses and
overwhelmed by the amount of positive ones," he said.
Not too long ago, Magill's trip would have angered many in the
city's large exile community, who have long condemned visits as
undermining a policy of isolating Cuba's communist government.
For decades Cuban-American leaders have used their powerful
political influence to keep U.S. sanctions in place as long as Fidel
Castro and his brother Raul ruled the island nation.
With that in mind, a wave of Cuban-American outrage might have been
expected after the announcement of a historic thaw in relations six
months ago, culminating on Monday on the restoration of diplomatic
relations between Washington and Havana after a 54-year hiatus.
[ID:nL1N1000KK]
But the hardline pushback never materialized.
 "It’s over and done in Miami. It died with a whimper," said Pedro
Freyre, a Cuban-born Miami lawyer with Akerman, a national law firm
that represents several U.S. and foreign clients seeking to do
business in Cuba.
A former hardliner himself, Freyre said U.S. President Barack
Obama's new policy was now widely accepted by South Florida's 1.5
million Cuban exiles.
To be sure, Cuban-American political leaders such as Republican
presidential hopeful Senator Marco Rubio - as well as another
Miami-based candidate, Jeb Bush - have accused Obama of appeasing
Cuba’s communist rulers. But such talk appears to be swimming
against the tide.
Opponents to restoring diplomatic ties have failed to mobilize large
street protests. And while many disapprove of the policy, there is
widespread resignation shaped by shifting demographics.
The diehard anti-Castro generation is aging, giving way to younger,
U.S.-born Cuban Americans who take a more pragmatic approach. The
same is true for recent exiles, many of whom have relatives in Cuba
and welcome the likely economic benefits of closer U.S. ties.
A poll last week found that 40 percent of Cuban-American would vote
for a candidate favoring normalization of relations while only 26
percent would be less inclined to.
Several key Cuban-American Republicans, including major Bush
backers, have signaled their strong support for the new policy.
"Cuban-Americans everywhere, but especially the diaspora in South
Florida, have been awakening to the reality that Cuba's isolation
was and is not a sustainable strategy," Mike Fernandez, a healthcare
millionaire and Bush supporter, wrote in an opinion column for the
Miami Herald this month.
"It's time to accept change. Let us not heed those relatively few
voices who would go on continuing to trap our minds in hatred."
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Hardliners who famously have raised substantial sums to successfully
lobby Congress to maintain a five decades-old economic embargo
against Cuba are being matched by new groups lobbying for Obama's
policy.
"It seems that Obama enjoys helping enemies and fighting friends,"
said Remedios Diaz-Oliver, a shipping company owner who left Cuba as
a young student in 1961 and is a co-founder of the pro-embargo
US-Cuba Democracy PAC.
"It's all a nonsense," she added saying Obama gave Cuba too much for
nothing in return. "All Obama is doing is consolidating a
dictatorship."
Supporters of the new policy argue it is a long-term strategy that
deserves to be given time to see if it encourages Cuba to move
faster toward a free-market economy while showing greater respect
for human rights.
They note the change has been well received by ordinary Cubans on
the island, including some leading anti-Castro dissidents.
"The old guard still wants heads on the block and Marines on the
beach, but they don't seem to have realized that the world had
changed," said Eddy Arriola, 43, the Cuban-American chairman of a
Miami-based community bank who served on Obama's campaign finance
committee in 2008 and 2012.
"The PACs are raising peanuts compared to the business interests
that are lining up," he added, pointing to Cuban business plans
announced by Airbnb, JetBlue Airways Corp <JBLU.O> and Miami-based
cruise company Carnival Corp <CCL.N>.
Meanwhile, more Cuban exiles are making the trek back home, some out
of nostalgia for forgotten homes and dead relatives, others to
explore future economic opportunities, even scouting out future
retirement homes.
Magill, the zoo spokesman, came back from his visit convinced the
policy change was smart.
“I was uncertain before I left as there were certain members of my
family that were strongly against any travel to Cuba so I wanted to
see for myself,” he said. "I've never been prouder of my Cuban
roots."
(Editing by Frank McGurty and Lisa Shumaker)
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