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The officialist deputy Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes spoke out this Thursday on Facebook to discredit the survey by the Miami Herald that reveals that 79% of Cubans and Cuban Americans in South Florida support military intervention by the United States in Cuba.
Pérez Reyes, who represents the municipality of Playa in Havana in the National Assembly of People's Power and is a member of the Communist Party of Cuba, described the survey as a "tragically famous poll" and asserted that it "does not represent the Cubans residing in the United States, much less the American people."
Its central argument is that the sample —800 people in the counties of Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, and Monroe— represents "a very, very specific geographic and political universe."
The deputy also questioned the political composition of those surveyed: "The survey itself reports a very politically charged composition: 57% Republicans, 17% Democrats, and the Miami Herald added that 64% were over 50 years old. This describes a very specific segment of the so-called Cuban exile in South Florida."
His verdict was blunt: "But what does that survey really mean? Absolutely nothing!!!!!"
Pérez Reyes's reaction is consistent with his position as a defender of the regime: he discredits the voice of the exiles and ignores that this frustration and desire for radical change is widely shared among the Cubans who have left the island.
The survey, conducted by Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group between April 6 and 10, shows that of the 79% who support intervention, 36% back it solely to overthrow the communist government, while 38% favor an action that combines regime change with addressing the humanitarian crisis.
Fernand Amandi, president of Bendixen & Amandi International, described the results as an unmistakable signal: "It's as if it were 1961 again. What the community is saying is that they are giving the Trump administration the green light to intervene militarily in Cuba and do whatever it takes to overthrow the regime."
The survey also shows a strong rejection of any negotiations that do not lead to a democratic transition: between 69% and 78% of respondents oppose agreements that allow the regime to remain in power, 77% reject reforms without free elections, and 68% oppose any dialogue that strengthens the current system.
Furthermore, 73% believe that the crisis in Cuba is the government's responsibility, not that of U.S. sanctions.
This sentiment within the Cuban-American community is comparable to that expressed by Venezuelans in exile, where more than 60% believe that a U.S. military intervention is the most effective way to restore democracy in their country.
Pérez Reyes, who in March of this year reaffirmed his agreement with Díaz-Canel "99% sure on the essentials", has built an image of an internal critic within the regime by pointing out economic failures, yet always within the boundaries of the system and reiterating his loyalty to the government that the majority of the exile community wishes to see vanish.
The Miami Herald survey was conducted with a margin of error of ±3.5 percentage points, which reinforces the statistical robustness of its results, despite the lawmaker's attempt to discredit it.
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