By Karl Ross
MIAMI, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Republican presidential hopeful John McCain courted the Cuban American vote in Miami's Little Havana district on Friday, backing Cuban exiles' demand that a 6-year-old boy at the centre of an international custody battle stay in the United States rather than return home
to Cuba.
McCain, who played a leading role in ending the U.S. embargo on Vietnam, also said Cuban President Fidel Castro must make reforms if he wanted normal relations with Washington.
Although McCain barely touched a plate of fried pork, black beans and rice served to him at a campaign stop at a Cuban eatery on Calle Ocho, Little Havana's main strip, he could not pass on the topic of Elian Gonzalez. The boy's fate has gripped Miami since he was rescued at sea on Nov. 26 after
a boat smuggling people from communist-ruled Cuba capsized, killing his mother and 10 other people.
``I believe this young man should be absolutely assured that he will be able to live in freedom and not in slavery, and that he will be able to live in the United States,'' said McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona.
The boy's relatives in Miami want him to stay with them, but his father has asked that he return to Cuba.
``I would make it clear to President (Bill) Clinton that under no circumstances should this young man be condemned to a life of communist oppression,'' McCain said.
MCCAIN HAILED AS ``A REAL MAN''
A former U.S. Navy fighter pilot and prisoner of war in Vietnam, McCain cuts an appealing figure for members of Miami's virulently anti-communist exile community, some of whose leaders were political prisoners in Cuba.
``He's a real man, he knows how government works, and, most of all, he has the scars of the price of liberty,'' said Manuel Salabarria, who shared a table with McCain.
McCain has pulled in front of Texas Gov. George W. Bush in recent polls taken among Republican voters in New Hampshire, the site of the first 2000 presidential primary.
But his success in winning the party's nomination could hinge on his courtship of Hispanic voters in more populous states such as Florida, Texas and California.
Florida, in particular, could prove to be a challenge to McCain because his rival's brother, Jeb Bush, is the state's governor.
McCain called the national Hispanic vote ``the critical, rising block vote in America.''
CONDITIONS SET ON NORMAL TIES WITH CUBA
Regarding the nearly four-decade-old U.S. embargo on Cuba, McCain said he favoured normalising relations with Havana as the United States did with Vietnam, but only if Castro were to make concessions such as freeing political prisoners, promoting free enterprise and holding multi-party
elections.
McCain spoke of a ``road map'' that would chart Cuba's course to American-style democracy, although the Cuban leader has made clear many times he intends to keep Cuba on its communist path.
``If they would take certain steps, we would take certain reciprocal steps,'' McCain said. ``Whether Mr. Castro would decide to agree to the kinds of measures the Vietnamese government was willing to take is certainly questionable but I would certainly make that offer.''
Exile leaders, staunch proponents of the embargo, did not view McCain's remarks as a signal he favours easing the embargo any time soon.
``Let Castro do any of the things we are asking him to do,'' said Jose Hernandez, president of the Cuban American National Foundation, an influential anti-Castro lobbying group. ``The problem is that he doesn't.''
Robert Bell, a retired U.S. Navy lawyer and local McCain supporter, expressed optimism that his candidate could bring the two countries closer together.
``Most military people are normally peacemakers because they've paid the price of war,'' Bell said. ``He favours normalising relations, but on a quid pro quo basis.''
18:37 12-10-99
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