Cuban-American Poll Finds Mixed Emotions on Juanes Show

By Jordan Levin
August 26, 2009

A newly released poll of Cuban Americans on Colombian singer Juanes' controversial Peace Without Borders concert in Havana finds that almost half oppose the Sept. 20 event, though the numbers vary dramatically according to age and country of birth.

The survey was commissioned by the Cuba Study Group, a Washington, D.C.-based organization of Cuban-American businessmen which supports cultural exchanges, including the Juanes show, as a means of advancing democratic change in Cuba. It polled 400 Cuban Americans around the U.S. -- about 80 percent of those questioned live in Florida -- and was conducted by Bendixen & Associates Monday evening. It has a margin of error of 5 percent.

The Sept. 20 concert, which is predicted to draw over 600,000 people to the Plaza de la Revolución in Havana, will feature Juanes, one of the most successful artists in Latin music, plus Spanish singer Miguel Bosé, Olga Tañon of Puerto Rico, and Cuban acts Silvio Rodríguez and Los Van Van.

The numbers shed some light on the degree of support and opposition to the concert, which has roiled a segment of the exile community.

Pollster Sergio Bendixen said emotion colors Cubans' responses. "In the phone calls, we heard that there is still a lot of pain in the Cuban-American community: `They killed my brother, they took everything I had, they ruined my life.' [Juanes] has to be very sensitive. He's gotten involved in an issue that is very complex.''

Nearly half, or 47 percent of those surveyed, oppose the concert, while 27 percent support it and 26 percent said they didn't know or had no opinion about the show.

Most of those who opposed to the concert gave political reasons. Forty percent said the concert ignored ``Cuban reality'' such as human rights violations and lack of freedom, and 25 percent said it "helps Castro.''

Of those supporting the concert, 60 percent said the show would bring Cubans needed happiness and music.

Predictably, those opposed to the concert tended to be older and had arrived earlier in the United States, while supporters tended to be younger and either recent arrivals or born in this country. Over 60 percent of those 50 and older opposed the concert, while 35 percent of those 18 to 34 supported it. Forty-five percent of those who arrived in the U.S. after 2000 were in favor of the concert, while 64 percent of those who came before 1970 opposed it.

The poll also gauged respondents' thoughts on cultural exchanges with Cuba: 50 percent of those surveyed said they supported such exchanges, 33 percent were opposed and 17 percent were undecided.

The strongest unanimity was on the subject of a small exile group that staged a demonstration in Little Havana and burned Juanes' CDs last week.

Overall, 74 percent said the protest by Vigilia Mambisa had a negative effect on the image of Cuban exiles in the United States.