A United States policy to renew diplomatic relations with Cuba sent shockwaves to 1.5 million Cuban-Americans, with some overjoyed at the news and others disappointed with President Obama.

The diplomacy initiative is also expected to change voter sentiment in Florida, which 4 in 1 Cuban exiles in America call home.

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President Barack Obama has pushed for a serious and frank debate about lifting half-a-century of economic sanctions against Cuba. Many Cuban exiles are happy with the president's decision, viewing it a chance to connect with the homeland they fled.

The sentiment in Florida shows a shift in generation among refugees who wield considerable political power in the US and whose consistent and unwavering support for the Republican Party apparently kept a long-standing US embargo on Havana in place.

Community leaders bent on opposing current President Raul Castro and his brother, former Cuban President Fidel Castro, have been an influential political force in Florida, a critical battleground for Republican and Democratic bets in presidential polls. 

For some immigrants, renewing diplomatic ties with Havana is a miracle. Magazine editor Hugo Cancio said it was amazing, a new start and a dream come true for more than 11 million citizens of Cuba that will also lead to a change of sentiment in Florida. Cancio came to Miami in 1980 aboard a boat.

He is ecstatic that the Obama administration fulfilled a goal he has been working for in the last 25 years.

Cancio's joy over the policy was not shared by everyone. People walking along the streets of Little Havana in Miami called Obama a communist while locals in the neighborhood cried in Spanish, "Obama traitor."

Maria-Angeles Martinez, 50, said renewed relations with Cuba is nothing to be happy about. She, along with diners in well-known Cuban restaurant Versailles, dismissed any negotiations with the ruling Castros. She emphasized that it was freedom or nothing.

TagsUS embargo against Cuba