Travel to Cuba debate divides exile community

[Mika]

Source: Miami Herald

Travel to Cuba debate divides exile community
http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/59796.html
A debate in Little Havana about the U.S. travel
ban to Cuba elicited passionate discussion,
peppered with shouts, applause and booing, and
marked a trial run for what's to come in Congress.

The mood in the jam-packed Tower Theater was reminiscent of the many decades of demonstrations and discussions about U.S. relations with Cuba: tense, heartfelt and often loud.

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Pérez argued that a policy which keeps families separated is ''morally reprehensible,'' and that it just doesn't work.
Flake said that while any travel, from anywhere, would inevitably send some funds Castro's way, it would also do good by making it harder for him to isolate his society. ''I think Cuban-American families are perfectly capable of making these decisions for themselves without the intervention of Congress,'' he added.

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During the question-and-answer period two audience members became so angry and disruptive they had to be escorted out by police.

Luis Zúñiga, a Radio and TV Martí executive and former political prisoner, reminded Flake and Pérez that, even if the travel ban were lifted, ''the regime has the power to decide who will travel to Cuba'' and that many, such as himself, still won't be able to go.
''If they put restrictions, that's their problem,'' Flake said, adding that it should be beneath the United States to restrict Americans' freedoms.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/884/story/59796.html

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Against the travel sanctions on Americans,

U.S. Rep. Jeff Flake (R, AZ)
Florida International University professor and Cuba scholar Lisandro Pérez


Pro travel sanctions on Americans,

University of Miami professor Paul Crespo
Hialeah City Council President Esteban Bovo

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The two audience members who became so angry and disruptive they had to be escorted out by police were hard line, pro travel ban, Cuban "exiles".

[Judi Lynn]

1. Poll suggests that Cuban Americans' attitudes shifting on sanctions

Posted on Mon, Apr. 02, 2007
Poll suggests that Cuban Americans' attitudes shifting on sanctions
By Pablo Bachelet
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON - A new poll to be released Monday shows that growing numbers of Cuban Americans in south Florida oppose U.S. restrictions on travel to the island and favor more contacts with Havana.

The longtime U.S. trade embargo still has the support of a majority of Cuban Americans surveyed - 57.5 percent - but that was down substantially from 66 percent three years ago and was the lowest level since the survey was first launched in 1991.

The survey showed 55.2 percent of those polled favor "unrestricted" travel to Cuba, though a majority of those registered to vote still oppose that option.

South Florida's Cuban American population, the largest concentration of Cuban Americans in the nation, has unmatched influence over U.S. Cuba policy both because of its sheer numbers and its ability to sway both presidential and congressional elections.
(snip)

The latest survey also is the first since the Democratic Party took control of Congress last November. Congress is expected to tackle several initiatives to ease U.S. sanctions on the island before its August summer recess.
(snip/...)

http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/17012116.htm

[Judi Lynn]

2. Cuban Americans moderate views on Cuba: poll

Cuban Americans moderate views on Cuba: poll
Mon Apr 2, 2007 4:47PM EDT

By Adriana Garcia

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Cuban Americans still stand by the U.S. economic embargo on Cuba, a survey showed on Monday, but their support has fallen to its lowest level since the survey was first taken in 1991.

After more than four decades of the embargo, those surveyed also were increasingly in favor of lifting U.S. travel restrictions that prevent them from returning to Cuba whenever they want.

The survey of south Florida's 650,000-strong Cuban American community has been conducted eight times since 1991 by Florida International University. This year, the Brookings Institution helped organize the poll of 1,000 people while the Cuba Study Group, a Washington lobby group, co-sponsored it.

In a sign that hard-line Cuban American opposition to Cuban leader Fidel Castro is being diluted by more moderate views, 57 percent favored re-establishing diplomatic relations with Havana. In 2004, only 42.7 percent wanted diplomatic relations with Cuba.
(snip/...)

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN0242385420070402