Lift travel restrictions to
Cuba, re-establish diplomatic relations and create a national dialogue between
exiles, dissidents and the Cuban government: These are the tools a majority of
Cuban-Americans surveyed support in their quest for change on the island,
according to a Florida International University poll released today.
The survey reflects a trend toward political pragmatism and moderation as newer
waves of Cuban migrants with strong ties to their homeland arrive in South
Florida, said FIU researchers who conducted the poll last month of 1,000
Cuban-Americans in Miami-Dade County. The results have a margin of error of plus
or minus 3.2 percent.
Cuban-Americans are
"willing to try to precipitate that change by instituting new policies that
they think will break the isolation," said Guillermo Grenier, a sociology
professor at FIU who wrote the poll. "To isolate a country and then expect
it to change according to your norms is counterintuitive, and I think the people
in the community reflect that view."
Though many Cuban-Americans celebrated Fidel Castro's debilitating surgery and
hand-over of power in July to his brother Raul, their initial optimism has been
tempered by a lack of political change on the island. Some 46 percent said they
anticipated major changes in Cuba in the next two to five years -- no change
from FIU's last survey in 2004.
According to today's results, 56 percent of those polled support the U.S. trade
and travel embargo, down from 66 percent in March 2004. Some 65 percent favor
establishing a national dialogue among Cuban exiles, dissidents and
representatives of the Cuban government, a 10 point increase over the 2004
results, while 57 percent favored re-establishing diplomatic relations with
Cuba.
The results are at odds with U.S. policy toward Cuba, which isolates the island
politically and economically.
Sixty-four percent of the current respondents favored U.S. policies that allowed
Cuban-Americans to travel to the island each year, rather than the current
limits of once every three years, and allowed a wide range of educational and
cultural exchange trips for all U.S. citizens.
The Bush administration tightened travel rules in 2004 to stem the flow of
dollars to the Cuban government and spur democratic change. Many Cuban-Americans
have complained that their families have borne the brunt of the regulations.
With Democrats in control of Congress, proponents of easing travel rules have
introduced bills in the House that would allow all Americans to travel and ease
restrictions on food sales to Cuba.
Though many in the exile community have softened their views on the embargo,
strict policies are still favored by Cuban-American legislators. Ana Carbonell,
chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Miami, said the Cuban
government should release all political prisoners, legalize political parties
and schedule democratic elections before sanctions are eased.
"That's the very least that we can ask for," Carbonell said. She
called the FIU poll a "propaganda tool used by those who want to ease
sanctions and normalize relations with the regime."
