NATIONAL POLL OF CUBAN & CUBAN AMERICANS ON CHANGES TO CUBA POLICY

METHODOLOGY

**The results and findings of this national telephone poll are based on 400 interviews with Cuban and Cuban American adults in Florida, New Jersey and other states. The interviews were conducted in Spanish and English on April 15th and 16th of 2009. The poll utilized the RDD methodology in Florida and New Jersey census tracts that have a 10 percent or higher "Cuban American density" according to the US Census. The margin of error of the study is 5 percentage points.

**The sample includes Cubans born in the United States (25%), Cubans that came to the USA before 1980 (34%) and Cubans that came to the USA in 1980 or after (41%); Cubans 18-49 (49%) and Cubans 50 years of age and older (51%); Cubans in Florida (82%), Cubans in New Jersey (12%) and Cubans in other states (6%). The sample is based on US Census data and is representative of the approximately 1.2 million Cuban and Cuban American adults residing in the United States.

**The survey was designed, conducted and paid for by Bendixen & Associates.

MAJOR FINDINGS

**A substantial majority of Cuban and Cuban American adults in the United States - 64 percent - support the changes in Cuba policy announced last week by President Barack Obama that lift all restrictions for Cubans in the United States on travel and remittances to Cuba. Fifty percent of Cubans said that they "strongly support" the policy changes while only 20 percent said that they "strongly oppose" them. 

**Approximately 240,000 Cuban adults would like to travel to Cuba during 2009-2010. 

**Two-thirds of Cuban and Cuban American adults - 67 percent - support the lifting of travel restrictions for all Americans so that they can also travel to Cuba freely.

**The Cuban American community splits on the issue of the commercial embargo against Cuba. Forty-two percent believe that it should be continued while 43 percent believe that it should be terminated. The PowerPoint report clearly indicates the generational and "decade of arrival" gaps in Cuban American public opinion on the embargo issue.

**The number of Cubans sending money to their relatives in Cuba (remittances) will not increase significantly because of the new policy (44 percent have been sending money regularly and another 2 percent will start sending money now). Nevertheless, the amount of money that is sent to Cuba should increase substantially because 30 percent of Cubans indicated that they were planning to send more than $1,000 to their family members every year and 7 percent said that they would send more than $3,000 annually. The old policy allowed Cubans to send no more than $1,200 to Cuba every year. 

**President Barack Obama receives surprisingly high ratings from Cuban Americans - a group that has very strong ties to the Republican Party. Two-thirds of all Cuban adults (67%) give him a favorable rating while only 20 percent give him an unfavorable rating.