cuban miami was very clear. they came early on in the revolution, didn t want do go back, they wanted to have sanctions and that was the end of it. now, even in the votes, the last two elections. the vote is split 50/50 between the republican and democratic candidate. and miami, as younger people come and as more recent immigrants come, miami cubans are split. a lot of them travel to cuba. a lot of them favor ending the embargo. the polls show the majority do. the travel has increased a great deal. and if president trump would backtrack, what he would be doing is cutting off a huge flow of the private sector traveling to cuba. these people who travel are not just visiting with their aunt. they re bringing money, they re bringing equipment. the people that are working with
patrick, i want to ask you in your opinion i want to tap in to your knowledge about cubans and cuba. is the grip of raul castro on the cuban government fragile? is it vulnerable? no, it does not appear to be. an example, you mentioned where you had raul castro taking a different path in engaging with the united states than his brother and fidel castro criticized him, krit sided the policy openly but that didn t change the engagement. raul castro has had ten years to consolidate his power. he has all of the titles his brother had. he is in charge of the military, president of cuba and also 85 years old. he s now more than ever perhaps aware of his mortality. raul castro said previously he would step down in february of 2018. we will see if that changes.
we are grateful that you re with us. good morning, i m christi paul. and i m martin savidge in for victor blackwell. we welcome viewers from the u.s. and around the world. we begin with breaking news from cuba. former cuban leader fidel castro is dead at the age of 90. you just heard the sounds of cheering on the streets of little havana on miami. as cuban exiles escaped his regime celebrated after hearing of his death. although a lot of them are the next generation. very good to point out. in havana, though, take a look there. the streets are quiet. people are finding out. and as cuba s president and fidel castro s brother raul castro made the announcement.
we feel proud with our clean record to relation to this problem. reporter: call it pride or selective reasoning, but he never lost faith in the revolution. opponents concede his popularity diminished as his beard grew whiter, but he continued to command fear and respect. he would eventually out live many of his critics and out last ten u.s. administrations. in the end, it was illness, not washington, that forced him to retire. passing cuba s leadership to his younger brother, raoul, in his last year he only appeared occasionally, mostly in photos looking frail. at times he tried to play the role of elder statesman, but more and more he simply seemed inkons can kwen shal. translator: the cuban government has been very ago aisle. it has slowly removed him from the scene. it would have been one thing had he abruptly died back on july 31st, 2006. instead his image and importance
experience abroad. tens of thousands fought in angola, the congo, ethiopia and mozambique supporting leftist movements and regimes. what distinguishes cuba s military is its role in the economy. this is the face of the military today just as much as troops in tanks. the army directly controls many tourist hotels like this one and they have a hand in everything from mining to telecommunications. though the economic role started well beforehand, it expanded after the fall of the berlin wall and the collapse of soviet subsidies. their tradition of hierarchy and discipline were asked to take over in the sense of posting officers in and militarizing the industry. by militarizing that meant military discipline could be applied to the workers there. most importantly, the military is the backbone of the country