Published Tuesday, August 21, 2001.
The Miami Herald
There's enough blame to go around and back, but most of it will be
unproductive.
Miami lost yesterday.
Despite its best efforts -- and real leadership by some -- the community
simply couldn't get out of its own way quickly enough to show the world its true
character.
We lost a chance to show that we're big enough to safely host the Latin
Grammy Awards. We lost the chance to remind the world that in Fidel Castro's
Cuba, there reigns intolerance. We lost the chance to show the world that this
is a world-class city, the natural meeting place of North and Latin American
cultures.
And, in the midst of an economic recession, we walked away from $35 million
dollars of economic impact and untold impact on convention and vacation planning
in the near term.
FREE SPEECH
The passions that move this community have once again proved too strong for
reason. Ironically, those who wanted to protest against Cuba's intolerant
government achieved the opposite result: Miami's Cuban-exile community once
again will be tarred as intolerant with a broad brush in the national and
international media. Fidel Castro must be enjoying this.
The Cuban-exile groups who wanted to protest have an absolute right to do
so. Those who favored having the Grammys -- and who would extend free speech to
anyone who wants to perform in our town -- have an equal right to "speech,''
which was cut short yesterday. The Grammy organizers have also right to invite
musicians of their choice and to assure security for those attending the event.
There could and should have been an arrangement to satisfy both needs.
Miami Mayor Joe Carollo didn't help. First, the city police promised Grammy
organizers a security zone. Then, much later in the game, when protest groups
asked for better locations, Mayor Carollo, running for re-election, jumped on
the bandwagon, wrapping himself in the Cuban flag with inflammatory rhetoric.
DIFFERENT NOW
He and the exile groups, aided by the American Civil Liberties Union, played
a bad poker hand that all of Miami will pay for. Perhaps they never believed
that the Grammys would pull out this late in the game, in spite of knowing that
other venues were available, that the Grammy show only needs seven or eight days
to make this switch and that the organizers had not raised all the money they
expected in the form of local sponsorships.
Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas and others tried to present the community in
its true character. They lobbied intensely to bring the Grammys here in the
first place and throughout the last days of security negotiations.
In hindsight, everyone involved in the matter should have thought to resolve
this issue early. But yesterday, the Grammy folks had heard enough. They had
options that would guarantee them greater security and less financial risk than
Miami.
When the city of Miami authorities vacillated on security issues, organizers
interpreted it as a late-inning change of rules.
What else was there? What role did members of the Latin Academy of Arts and
Sciences play? What role did personal affront and ego play? Did we unwittingly
give them the excuse that they were looking for?
Before anyone loses heart, let's remind ourselves that we are not the place
we were even two years ago when some protesters got out of hand at the Los Van
Van concert. Any number of Cuban musicians have performed here since then
without incident. Many of the people advocating the Grammy performance here
actually opposed it last time. Increasingly, this community of diverse political
views is expressing them freely and publicly. All this, we take as healthy signs
of a working, if messy, democracy.
WHAT NEXT?
Had the issue of protest location been handled earlier and more
diplomatically, the protests could well have been a non-issue. What has happened
now, though, only gives Cuba's dictator fertile ammunition with which to once
again bash all exiles. The exile groups won no victory and had nothing to cheer
with the Grammys leaving.
There's enough blame to go around and back, but most of it will be
unproductive. The focus instead should be on where we go from here.
How do we ensure that future events are not torpedoed by groups that hardly
represent the majority of Miami or Miami-Dade residents? Is this the result of a
leadership vacuum in the city? How do we ensure that, at the same time,
legitimate rights of dissenters are accorded due opportunity to be expressed?
We will have more to say in the days ahead, as more facts are learned and
cooler heads come together. We welcome, as well, your opinions and invite you to
use the newspaper as your platform.
Copyright 2001 Miami Herald | 
