MIAMI - Time was, Cubans who fled for the United States built new lives and used their money to lobby against the communist regime in Havana. But today a new generation of Cuban-Americans wants change, experts say.

The US decision "to allow (unlimited) sending of remittances and (unlimited) travel by Cuban-Americans is the end of a process that has been under way for years," said Uva de Aragon, who leads the Institute for Cuban Studies at Florida International University.

There are more than 1.25 million Cuban-Americans, of whom more than 800,000 live in south Florida, a stone's throw from Cuba.

Among the older generation who fled after the 1959 revolution, many had homes and businesses expropriated in Cuba, and bitterly vowed to seek revenge until they took their last breath.

Many organized politically and were able to push US politicians keen to win Florida in national elections to do their bidding.

But many among this abuelo generation have now died, and those who remain have been hugely outnumbered by the steady inflow of younger Cubans -- now Cuban-Americans -- year after year.

While the older generation would have perished before talking to a communist regime, now the typical Cuban-American either grew up in communist Cuba or knows people who did.

And the new generation is not afraid of authorities in Havana: they simply want their family in Cuba to have better living conditions, or more opportunities, or greater freedom.

"The new generation of exiles are guided more by economic circumstances and less by politics," said Aragon. "They have become US citizens and with their voting power they do have political weight."

Traditionally, Cuban-Americans have favored the Republican Party and its hard-line anti-communist policies.

But things were changing in Miami through the 1980s and 1990s, as the demographic shift of generations among Cuban Americans began to take hold.

An FIU survey in 2007 -- confirmed by others in recent months -- found that Cuban-Americans in Florida overwhelmingly oppose travel restrictions to the island and limits on remittances.

Many observers were surprised that a majority favored normalizing relations, as Havana and Washington do not have full diplomatic ties.

The Barack Obama presidential campaign picked up on those evolving signals, and promised to end those restrictions and to take steps toward dialogue with Havana.

"The passing of time has healed some wounds and even a lot of hard-core anti-Castro exiles have grown tired," added De Aragon.

Still "not everything depends on the Obama government's decision."

"We have to see how the Cuban government reacts, and if it allows things to keep moving forward. Like the saying says, it takes two to tango," she said.

For example, Cuban-Americans often have to pay for entry permits in Cuba. Many here want that -- widely seen as punitive to emigrants -- to stop.

And while Obama announced that he would allow US telecom companies to operate in Cuba, it remained to be seen if Cuba would make that possible.

"Pressure from business particularly the agricultural and pharmaceutical industries are also having an influence on US relations with Cuba," said economist Antonio Jorge, a former Cuban government economy official.

But "ultimately, given the current economic situation, there is not going to be a massive surge in travel to Cuba or so much sending of money," he stressed.

At the moment, a 30-minute flight from Miami to Havana costs more than 600 dollars.

Cuban Americans are also asked to pay for new or renewed Cuban passports, which Havana demands they get every two years.

Cuba does not recognize dual citizenship, and sees those born in Cuba as Cuban only even if they have been nationalized elsewhere.