About half of Cuban-Americans surveyed in Miami support an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba. Even more support resuming diplomatic relations with the communist island's government. That's according to a Florida International University poll released Tuesday.
It's the latest in a series of polls conducted by the university since 1991 that mark a steady evolution of Cuban-American views. Just a decade ago, electoral success in Miami depended in part on candidates' support for the embargo. But newer Cuban arrivals and second generation Cuban-Americans tend to back more diplomacy.
"We are witnessing a clear demographic shift with younger and more recently arrived Cubans favoring a change in policy toward the island," said Professor Guillermo J. Grenier, one of the co-principal investigators of the FIU Cuba Poll.
The poll of 1,000 Cuban-American Miami-Dade County residents adds weight to recent efforts by Cuban-American business leaders and academics to get President Barack Obama to loosen more travel and trade restrictions with Cuba.
