Poll shows Cubans optimistic over reforms, but long way to go

Posted on Wednesday, 11.23.11

Poll shows Cubans optimistic over reforms, but long way to go

The polls shows that optimism rose slightly in Cuba over Raul Castro's
economic reforms.
By Juan O. Tamayo
jtamayo@ElNuevoHerald.com

A poll of Cubans shows that huge majorities favor democracy and a market
economy, and that although 70 percent remain skeptical of Raúl Castro's
reforms, there's been a slight increase in the optimism over the changes.

The survey by the International Republican Institute (IRI) also showed
52 percent of those questioned had seen no evidence of any reforms, and
most said that significant economic changes are impossible without
political reforms.

"There are a lot of headlines here in the U.S. about changes coming to
Cuba, but IRI's survey shows that the Cuban people themselves are not
necessarily seeing it so far," IRI President Lorne W. Craner said in a
statement Monday.

Overall, he added, the survey suggests "that while Cubans desire
economic opportunity and private property ownership, they closely tie
these economic changes to political change in the form of free
elections, free expression, access to information and the right to dissent."

It was the sixth Cuba survey conducted since 2007 by IRI, a Washington
nonprofit that works to advance freedom and democracy worldwide. The
chairman of its board of directors is Sen. John McCain, R-Az.

The 572 adult Cubans surveyed in July showed an increase in optimism
over Castro's reforms. Asked how things were going overall, 26.7 percent
said "well" in July, compared to 16.2 percent in the previous poll in
February.

Asked if the government would be able to solve Cuba's key economic
problems in the next few years, 13.7 percent said yes in February and
20.6 percent in July. In February, 77 percent said no and in July the
figure dropped to 70 percent.

Castro has announced an ambitious and risky set of reforms to grow
Cuba's economy, primarily by cutting back public spending and allowing
more private enterprise. But the changes have been coming at a slow pace
that has drawn attacks from critics on both the right and left of the
government.

IRI officials have said their polls in Cuba, where the communist
government does not permit independent surveys, are carried out
"discreetly but scientifically" but declined to provide further details.

Among the other key findings of July's survey:

• Nearly 90 percent of Cubans interviewed said they favor a market
economy, with the right to own property and run private businesses.

• Three out of every four favor multi-party elections, freedom of
expression and other elements of democracy.

• Three-in-five believe that substantive economic changes are not
possible without political reforms.

• Less than 7 percent of those questioned said they had access to the
Internet, and only 22 percent said they had access to cellular phones.

http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/11/23/2514843/poll-shows-cubans-optimistic.html