Most US citizens want to re-establish ties with Cuba
News from Cuba | Monday, 6 February 2012
People in the United States are ready to change their country’s interaction with Cuba, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.
In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,008 American adults, three-in-five respondents (62%) agree with the U.S. re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, while one-in-four (23%) disagree.
Majorities of Independents (67%), Democrats (64%) and Republicans (56%) agree with re-instituting to bilateral ties.
In March 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama eased travel restrictions to Cuba, and allowed U.S. citizens to travel to the island for religious and cultural reasons. Most Americans (57%) believe it is time to lift the travel ban that prevents most Americans from visiting the island.
Half of Americans (51%) would lift the trade embargo with Cuba that has been in place since the 1960s, while three-in-ten (29%) disagree. Most Democrats (53%) and Independents (55%) support ending the embargo, but Republicans are not as convinced (46%).
The notion of supporting non-governmental groups in Cuba in order to foster protests against the current regime did not resonate with Americans. Across the country, only 35 per cent of respondents endorse this course of action.
Two-thirds of Hispanics (67%) support re-establishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, and their views on the travel ban and the trade embargo mirror those of the entire sample of Americans.
