Cubans not monolithic
Despite the white-hot rhetoric, Barrero and Castillo said some elements of the policies would be welcome by some Cuban American
voters. “About half feel that any interaction with Cuba short of the government there folding and creating a new, more democratic government is bad. And the other half feels that the way to get change is through interaction,” Castillo said.
Cubans who arrived in the U.S. more recently, and have younger relatives on the island would be more likely to benefit from increased family unification, Duany said. Castro said families that send remittances to their relatives will be happy about fewer restrictions, as will family members who want to travel to Cuba to see relatives.
Flights to cities outside Havana will make the trip easier and more flights could mean lower prices, Duany said.
Havana is located in the northwest and Santiago de Cuba, which had flights authorized under Obama, is in the southeast. Duany said it can take 14 hours by train or car to get from Havana to Santiago de Cuba, the nation’s second largest city.
Amandi said in his comments about the political wallop aren’t an assessment of the policies themselves. “Context is everything. And just because the policy may be right, it doesn’t necessarily suggest it was done in a politically adroit or strategic way.”
There’s a reason the issue is so powerful for so many, even if it isn’t always understood by people outside of Florida.
“We’re talking about individuals who served time in political prison and were tortured. We’re talking about children and grandchildren of people who have been executed and disappeared. We’re talking about people whose families lost their homes, their rights, their childhoods disrupted,” said Curbelo, the son of Cuban exiles. “So when people of that background hear that Democrats are looking for ways to build bridges with these dictatorships or find ways to improve relations, there’s just no tolerance for that.”
Kevin Wagner, a political scientist at Florida Atlantic University, said, “Democrats are vulnerable to the extent they allow themselves to be painted in the same sphere as the socialists running Venezuela or Cuba. That’s a potent campaign tool if it’s left unchallenged.
“Democrats have yet to figure out how to respond,” Wagner said.