CUBA STANDARD — After the election of Donald Trump, U.S. voters continue to favor normalization and an end to the embargo by big margins.
According to a national poll by the Pew Research Center conducted Dec. 1-5, 75% of U.S. adults approve of the current normalization policy with Cuba, and 73% favor ending U.S. sanctions against Cuba.
The percentages are similar to attitudes from the last Pew survey on this issue in July 2015.
At the same time, those surveyed do not have high expectations about “increased democracy” in Cuba. Only 42% expect Cuba to become “more democratic” over the next several years, while 47% believe it will be about the same; 3% expect Cuba to become less democratic. Republicans remain more skeptical than Democrats that Cuba will become more democratic in the next few years.
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to support diplomatic ties and an end to the U.S. embargo.
Still, 62% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents approve of the re-establishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba, the same percentage favors ending the embargo. Meanwhile, 87% of Democrats and Democratic leaners favor diplomatic relations, 84% favor ending the embargo.
Among college graduates, 83% approve of re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, and 80% favor ending the U.S. trade embargo. Most of those with lower levels of education also back these two policies, but by somewhat smaller margins.
