Posted on Wed, May. 21, 2008
By MIKE CLARY AND TAL ABBADY
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
MIAMI --
Sen. John McCain used the anniversary of Cuban independence from Spain
to shore up support among traditionally Republican Cuban American voters
Tuesday while reaching out to other Hispanics on issues of free trade
and his opposition to Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez.
"Latin America today is increasingly vital to the fortunes of the United
States, and Americans north and south share a common geography and a
common destiny," the presumptive GOP presidential nominee told about 700
listeners at the Sheraton Miami Mart Hotel during a campaign swing
through South Florida.
With Florida expected to be a battleground state in the election,
Hispanic voters could play a critical role. The Democratic Party has
made significant strides in registering Hispanics and recently surpassed
Republicans in that effort. The votes of many unaffiliated Hispanics in
the state are up for grabs. In touting his support for a free trade
agreement with Colombia, McCain cited a U.S. International Trade
Administration estimate that more than $1 billion in tariffs on U.S.
exports to Colombia could be eliminated once the agreement takes effect.
"There is more than one issue (Cuba) that concerns people here," said
Colombian American Fabio Andrade, head of the Americas Community Center
in Weston, approving of McCain's policy toward Latin America.
The Arizona senator also blasted rivals Sen. Barack Obama and Sen.
Hillary Clinton, who oppose the agreement on the grounds that it would
cost Americans jobs, saying the two Democrats wanted "to retreat behind
protectionist walls and undermine a key hemispheric ally."
McCain cited Colombia as "a beacon of hope in a region where the Castro
brothers, Hugo Chavez, and others are actively seeking to thwart
economic progress and democracy."
On Cuba, McCain sounded familiar Republican themes, saying he would not
talk with the Castro regime until democratic reforms are in place. With
him on the podium were Miami congressmen Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart,
anti-Castro Republicans who could face serious re-election challenges
this fall.
Many in the audience were hard-liners who support the current embargo
and travel restrictions that McCain has pledged to keep in place.
"We need to continue treating Cuba with a firm hand, and that's what
McCain has promised to do," said Havana native Jesus Correa, 68, of
Miami and a member of the Cuban Liberty Council.
But some members from the Cuban American National Foundation, which has
taken a more moderate stance in recent years, also were present. "We
need to support the candidate who will most effectively bring Democracy
to Cuba, not the one who is the most pro- or anti-Castro," said Jorge
Mas Santos, CANF chairman.
In response to a question from the audience about "prisoner rights in
Guantanamo," McCain suggested moving the military trials to an army base
at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.
"Some of these people are the most evil that (have) ever existed," he
said. "I think they can be given trials but not the same trials that
U.S. citizens receive."
Following his remarks at the Sheraton, McCain stopped at La Casa del
Preso (House of the Prisoner) in Little Havana, a small meeting house
and museum dedicated to those who have perished while jailed for
political crimes.
McCain, himself a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for more than five
years, listened intently as ex-prisoner Angel Pardo, 64, led him past
the photos of more than 350 men and women who have died in incarceration
on the island over the past 48 years.
Pardo was imprisoned in Cuba for 24 years.
Outside the museum McCain reiterated his pledge not to talk to the
Castro regime until after democratic reforms have been made.
"Someday Cuba will be free," he declared to applause from the
early-afternoon crowd of 150 Cuban-Americans, mostly elderly.
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