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Posted on Thu, Feb. 13, 2003 in
The Miami Herald.
Cubans in exile split on policy
Recent arrivals are more receptive to U.S. ties with island, two polls
show
By Andrea Elliott and Elaine de Valle. aelliott@herald.com.
Alexander Rodríguez loves his parents more than he hates Fidel
Castro.
Since he left Cuba for Miami five years ago, he has gone back once to see
them.
''If I could, I would go every weekend,'' said Rodríguez, 28, who --
like many recent Cuban exiles with a strong connection to the island -- supports
efforts to normalize relations between the United States and Cuba.
"Anybody who thinks differently, it's because he doesn't have family
there.''
Rodríguez echoes the growing voice of Miami's recent Cuban exiles,
whose more moderate views on Cuban issues -- from the U.S. trade embargo to
dialogue with the Castro regime -- contrast sharply to those of earlier exiles,
according to two polls released this week, one by The Herald, the other by a
Cuban-American organization.
The gap stems from differing emotional and practical bonds with the island,
say activists, pollsters and other experts. Those who arrived in the first waves
of the 1960s and '70s tend to have weaker ties with those living in Cuba today,
and are more guided by their experience as political exiles who opposed the
revolution.
By contrast, Cuba's failed economy largely drove the more recent waves --
especially in the 1990s -- and while these exiles also oppose Fidel Castro, they
are much more open to normalizing relations because their contact with the
island is greater.
''What you're seeing is people who are intimately involved in the Cuba
tragedy as opposed to people who are philosophically involved,'' said Joe
Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation. 'There are
people in Miami who work two jobs: one to keep their lives in Miami and one to
keep their families' lives in Cuba. Those people want to solve the problem
because it's destroying them.''
The emotional divide between older and newer waves of exiles is not new to
many Cubans in Miami, but the polls confirm it.
The most dramatic differences in attitudes surfaced over travel and
money-wiring restrictions, the embargo, the dissident movement in Cuba, and
whether to engage in political dialogue with Cuban government officials, the
poll conducted for The Herald showed.
The Herald poll and a separate survey commissioned by the Cuba Study Group
each surveyed 400 Cuban Americans in Broward and Miami-Dade counties. The Cuba
Study Group, composed of prominent Cuban Americans, supports the Varela Project,
an initiative begun by disssident leader Oswaldo Payá to bring about
democratic reforms through a referendum based on the Communist Party's own
constitution.
A TIME DIFFERENCE
Both polls asked respondents when they arrived in the United States.
One striking difference: Though only 34 percent of the 1960s wave supports
easing restrictions on travel to Cuba, the figure almost doubles to 64 percent
among those who arrived in the 1990s, according to The Herald poll.
Another notable disparity: While only 29 percent of the 1960s wave supports
lifting restrictions on the amount of money they can send to Cubans on the
island, 61 percent of the 1990s wave would support such an initiative.
And though a slim majority of the earlier arrivals agree that the Varela
Project is important to a democratic transition in Cuba, the figure rises to 87
percent among those who arrived after 1990.
''You will see a much more moderate, pro-negotiation point of view from
people that came in the 1980s and 1990s, in contrast to people who came in the
1960s and 1970s,'' said pollster Sergio Bendixen, who conducted the Cuba Study
Group poll. "It's the main reason that Miami's exile community now holds a
much more moderate approach.''
While 54 percent of the 1960s exiles surveyed support the concept of
''forgiveness and reconciliation'' as part of a democratic transition in Cuba,
support jumps to 70 percent among '90s exiles, according to the Cuba Study Group
poll.
Likewise, 66 percent of the 1960s exiles support the embargo, compared with
47 percent of the 1990s exiles, according to the Herald poll.
When asked whether the current Cuban government is slowly moving toward
democracy, 10 percent of the 1960s exiles agreed, compared with 32 percent of
the 1990s exiles.
Support for an exile dialogue with Cuban government officials -- excluding
Fidel and Raúl Castro -- for democratic transition is much stronger, at
61 percent, among 1990s exiles, compared with 43 percent among those who arrived
in the 1960s, in the Herald poll.
Cuban American National Foundation Chairman Jorge Mas Santos proposed such a
dialogue last month.
The Herald poll also reflected a similar gap in support for a
Castro-sponsored conference planned for April in Havana between exiles and Cuban
officials: 47 percent of the 1960s exiles support the conference, compared with
69 percent of the 1990s exiles.
The polls underscore the notion that age and generation do not dictate
Cuban-American perspective as much as the era in which exiles left the island.
There are several significant exile waves -- the Freedom Flights of the late
1960s and early '70s, the Mariel boatlift of 1980, and the rafters of the '90s.
The first wave came in the two years following the 1959 revolution, with
about 135,000 Cubans landing in South Florida. Those exiles ferried about 5,000
more Cubans to Miami in 1965, when Castro opened the port of Camarioca to those
who wished to leave.
To stop illegal migration, Cuba and the United States then agreed to daily
''freedom flights'' that began that year and brought about 340,000 new Cubans to
South Florida until Castro cut the flights off in 1973. The largest influx came
in 1980, when about 125,000 Cubans arrived in a five-month period in the Mariel
boatlift.
In the 1980s and '90s, Cubans arrived by sea in the hundreds and thousands
each year, often in flimsy vessels built out of scrap material, culminating in a
1994 mass rafter exodus of more than 30,000.
That year, the U.S. and Cuban governments reached an accord for the United
States to issue at least 20,000 visas to Cubans each year. Known as el bombo --
the lottery -- this and illegal smuggling operations are the main avenues for
immigration today.
'A BETTER LIFE'
''The recent wave are not so much political exiles as immigrants who come
here, like other immigrants from Latin America, in search of a better life,''
said Max Lesnik, one of the directors of Alianza Martiana, an anti-embargo
organization. "They became opposers for economic reasons, not for political
or ideological reasons. The exiles of the right do not want to recognize that.''
For Peter González, a busboy at the Hialeah Latin Café,
connecting to the island is about taking care of the aunt who raised him.
''If they don't have the dollars I get them, they would have nothing. They
would starve,'' said González, 31, who moved to Miami three years ago
after winning the visa lottery. "I go to help my family. I'm not interested
in what is happening with the regime.''
Anti-dialogue activist Ninoska Pérez Castellón said she
questioned the credibility of the polls because they differ from the viewpoints
she has heard.
''There might be more people that came with a different view but I find a
lot of people who came in the 1990s who favor sanctions for Castro and they do
not travel to Cuba,'' she said. "I think I have a pretty good feel about
what this community is all about. I don't see these people who support the
dialogue out there. All I hear is a lot of criticism for the dialogue.''
But to Santiago Quintana, criticizing the regime takes a back seat to doing
right by his family in Cuba. Quintana, 66, has been back to the island three
times since he arrived 15 years ago. He supports easing travel restrictions and
dialogue to normalize relations.
''It would be the most correct thing to do. It would make life easier for us
here and for them there,'' Quintana said as he sold mangoes and bell peppers on
a Hialeah street corner. His son and several grandchildren live on the island.
"When I'm there, I feel good, happy.''
Cuban Americans asked about Varela Project
Posted on Wed, Feb. 12, 2003
Here are some of the questions in the survey of Cuban Americans conducted on
behalf of the Cuba Study Group, an organization of prominent Cuban Americans who
support the Varela Project.
Have you heard about the Varela Project that has been organized by
dissidents in Cuba?
Yes: 82
No: 17
No answer: 1
Dissidents in Cuba have organized the Varela Project. They have collected
more than 11,000 signatures from Cuban citizens in the island and a few months
ago presented them to the Cuban National Assembly. The petition asks for a
national referendum on freedom of the press, on organizing democratic elections,
on freeing political prisoners and on economic reforms. Now that you have heard
this information about the Varela Project, do you think it is a good idea or a
bad idea:
Good idea: 79
Bad idea: 9
Don't know/No Answer: 12
Have you heard about a Cuban dissident by the name of Oswaldo Payá?
Yes: 82
No: 17
Don't know/No answer: 1
During his recent visit to Miami, Oswaldo Payá expressed support for
various concepts and strategies. Do you support the concept of ''forgiveness and
reconciliation'' as an important basis for the process of transition toward
democracy in Cuba?
Support: 61
Oppose: 23
Don't know/No answer: 16
Oswaldo Payá also expressed strong support for a ''peaceful''
transition toward democracy in Cuba. Would you prefer that the transition toward
democracy in Cuba be ''abrupt and violent'' or "gradual and peaceful?''
Abrupt and violent: 16
Gradual and peaceful: 78
Don't know/No answer: 6
Oswaldo Payá declared that the most important catalyst for change in
Cuba would have to come from within the island. Who do you think are more
important in the transition toward democracy -- the dissidents in Cuba or the
exile leaders in Miami?
Dissidents in Cuba: 69
Exile leaders in Miami: 11
Don't know/No answer: 20
Paya said the following during his visit to Miami: ''We are not waiting for
Fidel Castro to die, we want to make reforms now and know that the future of
Cuba depends on the effectiveness of those changes.'' Do you agree or disagree
with Payá's statement?
Agree: 79
Disagree: 11
Don't know/No answer: 10
The poll, conducted by Bendixen and Associates of Miami, surveyed 400 Cuban
Americans in Miami-Dade and Broward counties in mid January 2002. The poll's
margin of error is plus or minus 4.9 percent.
Herald poll gauges Cuban-American views
Posted on Wed, Feb. 12, 2003
Here are some of the questions Cuban Americans were asked in a poll
conducted for The Miami Herald:
Recently, the leadership of the Cuban-American National Foundation announced
that they would be willing to enter into a dialogue with three high-level Cuban
government officials -- not including Fidel or Raul Castro -- in hopes of
discussing democratic transition in Cuba. Do you support or oppose this
dialogue?
Support 54
Oppose 39
Don't know 7
As you may have heard, there will be a meeting later this year on the island
regarding Cuba's relationship with exiles here. Do you support or oppose members
of the exile community meeting with Cuban officials on this topic, or do you
oppose it?
Support 56
Oppose 35
Don't know 9
Which of the following is closest to your opinion?
Cuba will have a peaceful transition to democracy while Castro is in power:
5
Cuba will have a peaceful transition to democracy after Castro dies: 37
Cuba will only become a democracy after the communists are removed by force:
52
Don't know: 6
As you may know, the Varela Project, led by Oswaldo Payá, is seeking
to collect and deliver thousands of signatures to the Cuban National Assembly to
force democratic reforms. Based on what you know about the Varela project, do
you support or oppose the project?
Support 59
Oppose 23
Don't know 18
Do you agree or disagree with the following statements?
The Varela Project is an important step toward democracy in Cuba.
Agree: 56
Disagree: 31
Don't know:13
The fact that the Varela Project is allowed to operate in Cuba is evidence
that they are being manipulated by the Castro government.
Agree: 43
Disagree: 43
Don't know: 14
The current Cuban government is slowly moving toward democracy.
Agree: 20
Disagree: 73
Don't know: 7
I oppose the Varela Project because it legitimizes the communist Cuban
constitution.
Agree: 31
Disagree: 50
Don't know: 19
Even if it is unsuccessful, the Varela Project is valuable because it helps
set the stage for a transition to democracy after Castro is no longer in power.
Agree: 66
Disagree: 20
Don't know:14
The poll surveyed 400 self-identified Cuban-Americans or Cuban exiles over
the age of 18 in Miami-Dade and Broward counties on Feb. 7-10. The margin of
error is plus or minus 4.9 percent. The interviews were conducted in English or
Spanish, depending on the preference of the respondent, by Schroth &
Associates, of Washington D.C. and Miami. | 
