Anti-family proponents setting groundwork for Miami elections for congress

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Anti-family
proponents setting groundwork for Miami elections for congress

By
Alvaro F. Fernandez
alfernandez@the-beach.net

Miami
is a strange and complicated place to run for political office. The
rules work differently in this southern most U.S. city. And they all
revolve around the issue of Cuba.

It
is no wonder that in the past week two columns were written, one in
The Miami Herald and the other in el Nuevo Herald, on the issue of
family travel to Cuba. The first was written by Ivette Leyva
Martinez, a Nuevo Herald reporter. In it she takes a few silly swipes
at the Cuban American Commission for Family Rights, an organization I
preside. Ms. Leyva Martinez is critical of the recent forum held to
deal with the issue of the separation of the Cuban family by the U.S.
government. She uses the Miami formula of criticizing those who
attack the wrongs done here and accusing them of not
focusing on the wrongs done on the island.

Ms.
Leyva Martinez should check what has
been done in Miami-Dade County with our disappearing tax dollars
under these ‘Cuba rules.’ The sleight of hand has made some in
our community rich; others have been caught
and today sit in jail. Her arguments are shallow. She seems to have
been sent to do a hatchet piece on the forum. If she had checked
she’d know that the Commission has been critical of anyone who has
used the family as a political tool. Any doubters can must see the
movie, Those I Left Behind (http://www.gatomedia.com/), our group
commissioned several years ago, done by Lisandro Perez Jr., which
deals with the issue of family.

In
my opinion, Ms. Leyva Martinez was used
to prop up arguments convenient for the November congressional races
in Miami.

The
other column appeared in The Miami Herald and was authored by
Mauricio Claver-Carone, director of the U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.
Claver-Carone gave reasons why he believes travel to Cuba must be
regulated. In his piece he mentions the 2007 “surprise” where “a
bipartisan coalition … prevented unilateral changes to U.S. policy
toward Cuba.” What he fails to mention are the hundreds of
thousands of dollars doled out to new members of congress for this
one vote. Most of these members have little interest or knowledge of
the Cuba issue — it does not affect them. And one, two, three, or
five thousand dollars for their political campaigns are worth selling
their vote for. It’s a disgraceful thing to say about the congress
and its members, but it’s a fact of life with many of today’s
politicians. They come cheap, don’t they?

Of
course, Claver-Carone threw in this important sentence: “Proponents
of appeasing the Castro brothers’ regime are now pinning their
hopes on November.” He was, of course, referring to the south
Florida congressional races in Districts 18, 21 and 25 where Lincoln
and Mario Diaz-Balart, together with Ileana Ros-Lehtinen will be
facing stiff competition this fall from well-financed and established
Democratic Party candidates. The article begins to lend cover to the
three incumbents. Allows them to point a finger at their opponents
and blame them for being soft on the Castro brothers. All three —
Raul Martinez, Joe Garcia and Annette Tadeo — have come out against
the cruel regulations that limit visits and remittances to family
members living in Cuba.

My
answer to Claver-Carone is that I am most assuredly pinning my hopes
on November. And it’s not to appease the Castros. By getting rid of
these three bullies who claim to represent us in congress, we might
begin to deal more sensibly with the issue of Cuba. And as a Cuban,
which Claver-Carone is not, I would not mind a future Cuba without a
Yankee boot on its neck.

It
is why I wasn’t surprised to see the Claver-Carone piece in The
Herald. Some U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC members and donors are very
large Herald advertisers.

You
see, the rules are
different in Miami. Not too long ago, for example, in one of his many
visits to the Miami area, President George W. Bush stood on a stage
with a group of Cuban Americans, all considered stalwarts of this
community. Found in that group were more than one man convicted of
terrorism.