The Reagan administration strongly supported the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), which formed the month the president took office.
The conservative lobby's influence waned when Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the Cuban American National Foundation, died in 1997.
The international custody case of Elián González, which lasted from November 1999 to June 2000, also had negative effects on conservative influence within the Cuban-American community.
The lobby campaigned for the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000, with success partially due to conflict within the Cuban-American community after the death of Canosa and the case of Elián González.
[1] A more persuasive reason for the agribusiness lobby's success and the rise of moderate and liberal voices is the recent economic reforms instituted by Raúl Castro.
[1] A logistic regression model analyzed Congress members' attitudes towards two nearly identical pieces of pro-embargo legislation before and after receiving campaign funds from the Cuban–American lobby groups.
[7]The lobby typically becomes more successful during presidential election years, as Cuban Americans live in the largest swing state in the U.S. Florida accounts for one-tenth of electoral college votes, and the winner-take-all electoral college system makes Cuban votes in the swing state all the more critical to presidential elections.
Eduardo Aguirre (R) served as Vice Chairman of the Export-Import Bank of the United States in the George W. Bush administration and later named Director of Immigration and Naturalization Services under the Department of Homeland Security.
Cuban Americans have also served other high-profile government jobs including White House Chief of Staff John H. Sununu.
Florida-based businessman and Cuban exile Elviro Sanchez made his multimillion-dollar fortune by investing the proceeds of his family's fruit plantations.