Obama More Popular Among Cubans Than Castro Brothers - Poll

US President Barack Obama currently enjoys greater popularity in Cuba than the Castro brothers, following the US decision to normalize relations with the island nation, a poll conducted by a private US firm reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The survey was conducted by Bendixen and Amandi International, a PR firm, for Univision and The Washington Post in Cuba, between March 17-27.

Some 80 percent of Cubans polled said they had a “very positive” or “somewhat positive” opinion of the US President. Meanwhile 47 percent of respondents said they had a positive view of current leader Raul Castro and an even lesser 44 percent offered approval of his older brother Fidel, who served as the country's president from 1976 to 2008.

The pollsters also found that some 96 percent of Cubans polled supported the efforts by their country to re-establish full diplomatic ties with Washington.

US President Barack Obama and his Cuban counterpart will participate in the Seventh Summit of the Americas. While no bilateral meeting between the two has been formally planned, White House officials said on Tuesday spontaneous discussions may occur.

The United States imposed an embargo on Cuba in 1961 during the Cold War because of antagonism between Washington and the communist government in Havana's close ties to the former Soviet Union.

Obama announced in December 2014 that Washington would normalize relations with Havana, easing travel and trade restrictions, but a full set of congressionally-mandated sanctions remain in effect.