CUBA STANDARD — Bad news for Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz: Most Cuban Americans support President Barack Obama’s normalization policy with Cuba, suggests a poll published by Miami-based Bendixen & Amandi International on Dec. 17, the anniversary of the normalization announcement by the presidents of the United States and Cuba.
The survey’s results suggest that presidential candidates Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz, both Cuban American Republicans espousing hardline views of U.S.-Cuba relations, do not represent the majority views of the Cuban community in the United States.
According to the poll, a clear 56% majority support Obama’s normalization policy, 12% more than a year ago, and 53% of Cuban Americans would like to see the embargo lifted, 9% more than last year. The majority is larger among younger Cuban Americans: Sixty-six percent of those age 18-49 favor an end of U.S. sanctions.
Bendixen conducted the survey Dec. 14-16 among 400 Cuban Americans.
Florida, a center for histórico exiles who have been driving the U.S. sanctions policy, polls less favorable for Obama’s policy than the rest of the United States. Only 41% of Cuban Americans living in Florida said they had a favorable impression of normalization policies, compared to 56% of Cuban Americans living elsewhere in the United States.
Despite broad support for his policy, 52% of Cuban Americans said they would oppose a trip to Cuba by Obama. The U.S. president announced this month that he would like to visit the island, on condition of progress by the Cuban government on human rights issues.
