The Cuban embargo continues to divide the exile community, though support seems to be eroding, a recent poll reveals.
The single question was posed last month to 400 Cuban Americans, mainly in Florida:
Are you in favor or against continuing the U.S. embargo on Cuba?
• 41 percent said they are against keeping the embargo.
• 40 said they were for it.
• 19 percent said they didn't know or gave no answer.
Pollsters said the response shows the topic remains a highly emotional one in Florida and nationwide.
"Those numbers reveal that the community has been unable to reach a consensus, but it also shows thawing," said Fernand Amandi, executive vice president for Bendixen & Associates.
"Six or seven years ago, it would have been heresy for such high support for doing away with the embargo."
The Bendixen firm conducted the poll on Aug. 24. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.
The question was commissioned by the polling firm, which has been measuring the opinion of the Cuban exile community for years.
Typical for such polls, closer identification of respondents spotlights that support for the embargo depends on age, decade of arrival from the island and place of birth — the United States or Cuba.
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