Crist criticized for planning trip to Cuba

Posted on Thursday, 05.08.14

Crist criticized for planning trip to Cuba
BY BRENDAN FARRINGTON
AP POLITICAL WRITER

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Republican gubernatorial candidate Charlie Crist
criticized his opponent for traveling to Cuba on a fact-finding trip.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Crist now wants to visit the
communist-run island to find facts of his own.

Crist said during his 2006 campaign that Democratic opponent Jim Davis
shouldn't have visited Cuba on a congressional trip, saying "I know when
it's time to visit Havana, and it's when it's free."

But times, along with Crist's party, have changed. In his second run for
governor, Crist believes the United States should scrap the 52-year-old
embargo, and he wants to visit the island to see what conditions are
like there.

Crist's shift on Cuba has evolved along with his political registration.

As a Republican governor he had a tough approach to the communist-run
island and supported tighter restrictions on travel and money sent to
Cuba. As an independent candidate for Senate in 2010, he supported
President Barack Obama's decision to allow Cuban-Americans' unrestricted
travel to visit relatives in Cuba and to send them more money.

This year as a Democratic candidate for governor, he said he would
support lifting the embargo, which he says hasn't worked and has hurt
Cubans.

Crist didn't immediately return a voicemail left on his cellphone and
campaign spokesman Kevin Cate said he wouldn't be available to talk
Thursday. The campaign sent an email to the news media earlier in the
week highlighting a Miami Herald story about Crist planning the trip.

It's not sitting well with some.

"Messing with people's turbulent political history should not be taken
lightly," said Republican state Rep. Jose Felix Diaz of Miami, whose
parents are Cuban immigrants.

He said it is one thing for a congressman, senator or even a sitting
governor to visit the communist-run island for fact-finding; but to do
so as a political candidate crosses a line, Diaz said.

"There absolutely is a political calculation involved and that has upset
a lot of people in Miami," Diaz said, adding that Crist won't be able to
see real conditions in Cuba or talk to dissidents. "He's going to be in
a state-led trip by the Castro regime," he said, referring to Cuban
President Raul Castro.

Simply being in favor of lifting the embargo wouldn't likely hurt Crist
politically since there is growing support for the idea in the
Cuban-American community, said Fernand Amandi, a Miami-based pollster
whose company specializes in Hispanic public opinion and works more
often with Democrats than Republicans.

But the idea of actually visiting the country is upsetting some Crist
supporters, Amandi said.

"I think he'd be wise to consult with leaders of the Cuban exile
community before coming to a definitive decision on whether this is the
right move or not," Amandi said. "This may yet prove to be a bridge too
far."

Republican Gov. Rick Scott also criticized Crist's plans.

"Any trip Charlie Crist takes to Cuba will only serve to promote the
Cuban dictatorship and their oppressive regime," Scott said in a
statement released by his campaign spokesman, Greg Blair. "If he's
interested in helping a dictatorship, that's his choice. I'm focused on
helping Florida families and standing with our Cuban community, not
against it."

Follow Brendan Farrington on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bsfarrington

Source: "TALLAHASSEE, Fla.: Crist criticized for planning trip to Cuba -
Florida Wires - MiamiHerald.com" -
http://www.miamiherald.com/2014/05/08/4105457/crist-criticized-for-planning.html#storylink=misearch