There is a new generation of Cuban Americans in town. Change is coming! But today, with the rise of younger generations of immigrants in Florida and with a different Castro in charge in Havana, many Cuban-Americans appear ready to bury the hatchet. Whether they have first-hand memories of the revolution, or only heard stories from their parents, they are visiting the island in droves and say they are open to helping solve Cuba’s problems . . . But even hardliners concede it’s time to talk. I don’t say it’s not time for negotiations, CANF director Tony Costa, 74, said. We need to negotiate for freedom of the press, free elections, opposition parties.; Florida International University’s Cuban Research has seen a general softening of attitudes over the years as they surveyed a random sampling of Cuban immigrants and their descendants. The latest poll of 1,000 Cuban-Americans in the greater Miami area found 52 per cent of respondents oppose the embargo. Younger people and those who arrived in the U.S. after 1995 opposed it in greater numbers. The FIU survey also found 68 per cent of Miami Cuban-Americans favour re-establishing diplomatic relations and 69 per cent support lifting restrictions on travel for all U.S. citizens. Support, again, was higher among younger people. “The taboo of travel to the island, the taboo of talking about reconciliation, the taboo of openly debating the embargo – these have all disappeared over the last four or five years, said Ricardo Herrero, whose advocacy group CubaNow launched an ad campaign this month against Florida politicians who would roll back the 2009 Obama policy on travel and remittances. Mr. Cancio, the 50-year-old music promoter who last year launched a second magazine, Art OnCuba, agreed. Although concerts by Cuban performers still occasionally draw peaceful protest, he believes the hardliners’ time is up. There’s a new generation in town, he said. That generation is the future of Cuba. That generation is the one that is going to bring about change.”
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 02:00:01 +0000
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