Cuban Lawmaker Dismisses Poll Showing Exile Support for Military Action

A Cuban National Assembly member criticizes a Miami Herald survey that found 79% of Cuban Americans back U.S. intervention.

Apr. 17, 2026 at 6:08pm

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A member of Cuba's National Assembly, Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes, has lashed out at a new Miami Herald poll that found overwhelming support among Cuban Americans in South Florida for U.S. military intervention in Cuba. Pérez Reyes, a member of Cuba's Communist Party, argued the survey does not represent the broader Cuban diaspora and reflects the views of a narrow segment of the exile community.

Why it matters

The poll results underscore the hardening attitudes within the Cuban exile community toward the communist regime, even as U.S. military engagements abroad have sparked debate. The Cuban government's reaction highlights the political tensions and differing perspectives between the island and its diaspora.

The details

The Miami Herald poll found that 79% of Cuban Americans in South Florida back some form of U.S. military action against Cuba's communist regime. Pérez Reyes, the Cuban lawmaker, criticized the poll's methodology, noting that 57% of respondents identified as Republicans and only 17% as Democrats, with a majority over the age of 50. He argued the results capture the sentiments of a narrow segment of the Cuban exile community rather than a representative cross-section.

  • The poll was conducted by Bendixen & Amandi International and The Tarrance Group between April 6-10, 2026.

The players

Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes

A member of Cuba's National Assembly and the Communist Party, who has emerged as a prominent face of the island's limited economic opening while remaining aligned with the government's political framework.

Fernand Amandi

The president of Bendixen & Amandi International, one of the pollsters who conducted the survey, who defended the methodology and argued the results reflect the views of Cubans living in freedom.

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What they’re saying

“But what does that survey really mean? Absolutely nothing.”

— Carlos Miguel Pérez Reyes, Cuban National Assembly Member

“The real difference here is simple: This survey was conducted in a place where people can answer questions freely and without fear. In Cuba, independent polls are illegal, and political dissent is punished. Thus, when a regime official criticizes a scientifically and rigorously conducted survey among Cubans living in freedom, they are not actually questioning the methodology, but rather the fact that there are Cubans living outside the island who were able to speak honestly without fear of the consequences of expressing their true opinions.”

— Fernand Amandi, President, Bendixen & Amandi International

The takeaway

This poll highlights the deep divisions between the Cuban government and the Cuban exile community, with the regime dismissing the findings as politically skewed while the exiles express growing support for aggressive measures to bring about political change in Cuba.