More than four out of five of Cubans are dissatisfied with their country’s direction, a new survey reveals. Some 20% of Cubans cited food scarcity as their biggest concern and 82 percent of respondents believed life on the island was going “so-so, badly or very badly.”
The survey was conducted, perforce surreptitiously, by the International Republican Institute.
“Cubans are dissatisfied. They want change, politically and economically,” said Alex Sutton, IRI’s Latin America program director, said. “A vast majority of Cubans, if given the opportunity, would vote for fundamental political change.”
IRI highlights other significant findings from the survey:
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Cuban citizens continue to be more likely to name economic issues among their greatest concerns, with more than one-half of Cubans (52 percent) citing worries about low salaries, high cost of living and challenges with the island’s double-currency system. |
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Almost exactly two-thirds (66 percent) of Cubans do not believe that their government will succeed in solving Cuba’s most pressing challenges. |
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One in five Cubans cited food scarcity as their biggest concern (20 percent). |
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Approximately 77 percent of Cubans say they have been affected by the Cuban government’s recent cutback on ration card dispersements – nearly one-in-three Cubans (30 percent) say they have been very negatively affected. |
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In terms of property rights, more than nine-out-of-ten Cubans (91 percent) support the ability to freely purchase and sell their homes, a right that is not currently afforded to them. |
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Overall the number of Cubans who make cell-phone calls increased ten percent since November 2008, while the number of Cubans sending and receiving email grew by 23 percent over the same time period. |
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