Key keywords: Cuban Americans, U.S. military attack on Cuba, U.S.-Cuba economic deal, Cuban policy poll, US-Cuba relations, Cuban exile community, Biden administration Cuba policy, Cuban human rights A new nationally representative poll conducted by Florida International University’s Cuban Research Institute between April and June 2024 has revealed stark positions among the U.S. Cuban American population on Washington’s policy toward Cuba. The survey sampled 1,200 Cuban American adults across all 50 U.S. states, with a margin of error of ±2.8 percentage points, making it one of the most comprehensive studies of Cuban American public opinion released this year. According to the poll results, 56% of respondents expressed support for targeted U.S. military action aimed at overthrowing Cuba’s current authoritarian government, marking a 12-point increase from the same poll conducted in 2020. The support is sharply divided by generational lines: 72% of Cuban Americans aged 65 and older, many of whom fled the island in the first wave of exiles following the 1959 Cuban Revolution, back military intervention, while only 42% of respondents aged 18 to 34 support the use of military force. On the issue of economic engagement, 68% of Cuban American respondents stated they reject any proposed bilateral economic deal between the Biden administration and the Cuban government that would lift long-standing U.S. trade and travel sanctions, even if the deal is framed as a measure to improve living conditions for ordinary Cuban citizens. 79% of respondents argued that easing sanctions would only enrich the ruling Cuban political elite, who have been accused of siphoning off state resources and suppressing political dissent for decades. The poll also found that 71% of Cuban Americans believe the top priority of U.S. policy toward Cuba should be advancing democratic reforms and protecting human rights on the island, rather than promoting U.S. economic interests or regional security cooperation. Researchers noted that the shift in public opinion comes amid a deepening economic and humanitarian crisis in Cuba, where widespread food and fuel shortages, rolling blackouts, and mass arrests of political dissidents have escalated over the past two years. Dr. Lisbeth Perez, lead researcher on the poll, noted in a statement that these findings reflect decades of accumulated frustration among the Cuban American community, who have watched successive U.S. administrations try engagement policies that failed to produce meaningful political change in Cuba. For many in the community, the status quo of half-measures and half-hearted sanctions is no longer acceptable.