Why the Miami Cubans failed

"In South Florida, the Cuban American community has held enormous sway over U.S-Cuba policy, and in recent years, it tightened its grip on both the executive and legislative branches of the U.S. government. Strongly supported by President Bush, heavily influential on Capitol Hill (with the help of two Cuban American senators, four representatives, and one of the best lobbying games in Washington), and a political and financial force in Miami, the Cuban exile community reached new heights of political power during the Bush years. Yet it still remained powerless to achieve what it claimed to seek -- a transition to democracy in Cuba -- because its leadership had so fully renounced the diplomatic tools and economic leverage required to meet that objective. In the absence of political dialogue, economic engagement, communication, and contact, the Cuban exiles rely almost wholly on the bureaucratic tools of the U.S. government to force a change in Cuba."

      Daniel P. Erickson
      The Cuba Wars
      Bloomsbury Press, New York, 2008