With President Barack Obama likely to interact with Cuban President Raul Castro this week at a summit in Panama, a new poll suggests that a majority of Americans support his move to normalize ties with Havana.
The poll, released by MSNBC, TELEMUNDO and the Marist College Institute for Public Opinion, finds that 59 percent of Americans, including 56 percent of Latinos, approve of the administration’s move in December to provide diplomatic recognition of Cuba.
It comes as Obama and other leaders gather later this week at the 7th Summit of the Americas. It also found that half of U.S. residents, including 52 percent of Latinos, consider economic sanctions placed on government officials in Venezuela for acts of violence to be the right form of censure.
However, 19 percent of Latinos in the U.S., compared to 13 percent of all Americans, think the punishment is too severe. One in five U.S. residents, including 16 percent of Latinos, believes the sanctions are not strong enough.
On Obama’s now-stayed executive action on immigration, 57 percent of all respondents and 78 percent of Latinos approve. A majority of Americans, including 81 percent of Latinos, think lawmakers should take up legislation that would provide a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants, with 41 percent of Americans and 59 percent of Latinos responding that the issue should be an absolute priority for this year's Congress.
The poll also found that 37 percent of Americans say Pope Francis has improved their opinion of the Catholic Church, although among Latinos, there is an even split - at 32 percent - between those who say the Pope has given them a more favorable view of the Church and those who say their opinion hasn't been changed.
The poll was conducted March 23-April 5 and surveyed 1,446 adults, including by landline and cell phone. It carries an overall margin of error of 2.6 percentage points. The oversample of 362 Latino respondents carries a 5.2 percentage points.
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