WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — A new generation of Cuban Americans is willing to lift the trade embargo on Cuba and end the half-century-long boycott of the island nation, former CIA counterterrorism officer and Senate Foreign Relations Committee senior investigator John Kiriacou told Sputnik.
"There is now a lot of support in Florida for lifting sanctions, even among Republicans," Kiriacou stated. "US business interests, especially in the south, are strongly in favor of ending sanctions."
In the past, even Democratic presidents like Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton have maintained sanctions against Cuba because of massive pressure from the Cuban-American community, particularly in Florida, Kiriacou acknowledged.
Successive presidents could not afford to ignore that constituency because Florida is the fourth most populous state in the United States, and a crucial swing state in recent presidential elections, he explained.
However, a massive demographic and psychological change has swept the Cuban American community in the 21st century, the analyst pointed out.
"The older generation that was adamantly opposed to lifting sanctions has largely died off, while many of those still active have changed their views over the years," Kiriacou stated.
Senator Marco Rubio of Florida continues to take a hard line against lifting sanctions in his current presidential campaign, but so far, he has failed to attract significant support even from the traditional hawkish core of the Republican Party.
"Rubio is no longer representative of the views of the Cuban American community on this issue," Kiriacou explained.
Because of the change, "It is still a possibility that a Republican Congress could lift sanctions," he noted.
The Republican Party has traditionally been the main political expression of the business community in the United States, and today business interests overwhelmingly want sanctions lifted so that they can trade with and invest in Cuba, he said.
"There is no downside for improving relations. There is only good news," Kiriacou insisted. "It is better for tourism and it is better for the economy.
Sanctions have never worked, Kiriacou observed, and never moderated Cuba’s behavior or forced it to improve its internal human rights record and they never threatened the political stability of the government in Havana.
"The only thing sanctions did was to hurt ordinary Cuban citizens, American manufacturers and American farmers," Kiriacou concluded.
In December 2014, President Barack Obama announced that his administration would pursue a path toward normalizing relations with Cuba.
On Friday, Secretary of State John Kerry traveled to Cuba to participate in the US embassy reopening ceremony in Havana.
