Press Release
Washington, D.C.—Tomorrow morning, the Atlantic Council's Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center will release a national poll measuring changing American attitudes toward U.S.-Cuba relations. The poll takes a closer look at opinions in the key electoral state of Florida, as well as nationally and among Hispanics.
“The poll quantifies what has been evident for some time: that majorities in Florida and among Hispanics favor an end to the U.S. embargo on Cuba,” said Marc Hanson, Senior Associate at Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA).
Last week, prominent Cuban-Americans and key members of Florida's political elite came out against the embargo. Among these were Alfonso “Alfy” Fanjul, who is a major Democratic Party donor, and businessman and philanthropist Jorge Perez. Also within the last week, both candidates for the Democratic nomination in the Florida gubernatorial race—former Republican Governor Charlie Crist and current state Senator Nan Rich—publicly announced their opposition to the embargo.
“Political heavyweights—both donors and candidates—are dropping their support for the embargo. Now the Obama administration has the political space to do the right thing and expand travel and engagement with Cuba,” said Hanson. “Of course, there will always be anti-Castro hardliners, but shifts in Florida mean that the reformers here can safely engage with Cuba, especially because the island is changing too.”
Please click here for further WOLA analysis of the poll.
Please click here to watch the live webcast of the presentation of the poll results on Tuesday, February 11 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern.
For media interviews with WOLA’s experts, please contact:
Kristel Mucino
WOLA Director of Communications
Office: 202-797-2171
Cell: 617-584-1713
kmucino@wola.org
