By David Cázares, The
Sun-Sentinel. Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 10:24 p.m. Feb. 24, 2001
MIAMI -- When George W. Bush won the presidency last year by edging past
Al Gore to win Florida's crucial electoral votes, many observers were quick to
attribute the Republican victory to Cuban-American anger over the Clinton
administration's handling of Elián González.
But to many of those voters, Elián was only part of the equation.
On Saturday, leaders of Cuban exile organizations reminded Gov. Jeb Bush
that they had supported his brother because they believe a Republican
administration represents the best chance for achieving tough policies against
Fidel Castro. In a meeting conducted almost entirely in Spanish in a Little
Havana bank, they urged the governor to take that message to the president
today.
"This is the best opportunity that we have to fight for freedom in
Cuba," said Elpidio Nuñez, the president of a meat packing company
who has been involved in the exile movement for four decades. "If we send
an adequate message to the Castro regime it will disappear," Nuñez
said.
For Nuñez and a group of about 30 other exile leaders -- many in
their 60s, 70s and 80s -- the Clinton administration's policy of encouraging
people-to-people contact between the United States and Cuba was a setback.
Exile leaders say they're encouraged by what they've heard from President
Bush and hope he will use the nation's bully pulpit at the United Nations and in
the court of world opinion to pressure Cuba. They also want him to stem the
island's influence in Latin America.
The group, which included Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban
American National Foundation, also wants to see the United States direct the
signals of Radio Martí and Television Martí into Cuba and to
enforce the Helms-Burton law. The law permits lawsuits against foreign companies
operating on property confiscated from Americans in Cuba.
"Tell your brother to support the embargo," said Carlos M.
Lluch, who leads the Union of Cuban Workers in Exile. "If he does that, he
will always have the solidarity and support, not only of the workers, but also
of the entire Cuban community."
One of the messages the president will receive will come from Eva Barbas,
the mother of Pablo Morales, one of four Brothers to the Rescue fliers who was
killed when Cuban jets shot down two of the group's planes on Feb. 24, 1996.
Barbas and Brothers to the Rescue founder Jose Basulto gave Bush a letter
to the president that calls for the criminal indictment of Castro for the murder
of the four men. The other three, Carlos Costa, Armando Alejandre Jr. and Mario
de la Peña, were U.S. citizens.
The governor promised to convey what he heard to the president.
David Cázares can be reached at
dcazares@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.
Copyright 2000, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida
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