How Florida’s demographics made the US-Cuba deal possible

*A view that’s sure to cause some push-back. Fifty years of hard line politics will eventually wear off. VL

By Dara Lind, Vox

The US government’s hardline attitude toward Cuba has spanned more than half a century, far outlasting the end of the Cold War. It has persisted even though there’s plenty of evidence that it’s a terrible idea.

This is partly because the politics of the embargo in the US have long been dominated by a certain generation of politically influential Cuban emigrants, who fled the country to escape the Fidel Castro regime and passionately feel the US shouldn’t do anything that might legitimize the Cuban government.

For this reason, there has historically been no upside — and plenty of downside — for a politician to take a softer line toward Cuba. But in the last couple of decades, it’s become clear that the politics aren’t as one-sided as they once were. The Cuban-American political establishment hasn’t moderated its position on the issue, but it no longer speaks for Cuban Americans (not to mention Florida’s Latinos) as a whole.

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