Ray Sanchez | Cuba notebook
September 2, 2007
Havana For all the rancor and hatred separating Cuba and South Florida,
observers of the long-standing conflict agree both sides need one
another desperately.
The circular game has lasted decades: Fidel Castro can't stop talking
about Miami, where hard-line exiles can't stop talking about the
Castros. Theirs is a mutual obsession that some would argue has given
the bickering sides a reason for being.
"It sometimes seems that way, doesn't it?" said Wayne Smith, a Cuba
expert who headed the U.S. Interests Section here from 1979 to 1982.
"They feed off one another."
The latest turn started when South Florida officials huddled on Aug. 24
to discuss emergency plans. A road closure in the Florida Keys further
fueled speculation. Then Internet bloggers, including celebrity gossip
Perez Hilton, a Cuban-American from Miami known for his dish on Lindsay
Lohan and Paris Hilton, wrote that the Miami police were set to announce
Castro's death. Local radio and TV stations reported the rumors
throughout the afternoon and evening.
On Tuesday, Fidel Castro took his turn, but made no mention of the death
rumors nor did he reveal information about his exact ailment or condition.
In an essay this week, Fidel Castro criticized U.S. presidents going
back to the 1950s and accused the current presidential candidates of
"submission" to Miami exile politics, and being "totally absorbed by the
Florida adventure."
Castro described a possible Democratic ticket of Hillary Clinton for
president and Barack Obama as vice president as "seemingly invincible."
"Both of them feel the sacred duty of demanding 'a democratic government
in Cuba,'" Castro wrote. "They aren't making policy, they are playing
cards on a Sunday afternoon."
Clinton and Obama have campaigned heavily in Florida, a swing state rich
in electoral votes and campaign funds. On Saturday, the day after the
running of the rumors, Obama appeared before more than 1,000 supporters
in Little Havana and promised to lift limits on family visits and
remittances. Cuban-Americans can visit family on the island once every
three years, and send them no more than $300 every three months.
Hardline exiles advocated for the restrictions, to choke off the flow of
hard currency which they say benefit the Castros.
Lifting the restrictions "can help make their families less dependent on
Fidel Castro," Obama said Saturday. "That's the way to bring about real
change in Cuba."
Clinton, a New York senator and the Democratic front-runner, recently
reiterated her support for current U.S. policy toward the
socialist-ruled island.
Joe Garcia, a former executive director of the anti-Castro Cuban
American National Foundation (CANF), who helped organize Obama's Little
Havana visit, said political forces in Havana and Miami have long
benefited from the enmity.
"To the ultra-right in Miami and to those in power in Havana, this is
just a little game they love to play," said Garcia, chairman of the
Miami-Dade Democratic Party and CANF board member. "They have needed
each other for a long time."
As with Mark Twain's, reports of Castro's demise apparently turned out
to have been exaggerated. The streets of Havana remained calm that
Friday afternoon, as they are today. There were no announcements on
Cuban television. A rerun of the hit American series Friends aired late
in the afternoon.
Ray Sánchez can be reached at rlsanchez@sun-sentinel.com.
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