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CUBA
NEWS
The
Miami Herald
Rift with Bush over Cuba policy is still
open
A debate among Cuban Americans over support
for President Bush's reelection campaign reveals
lingering wounds over Cuba policy.
By Peter Wallsten And Lesley Clark,
pwallsten@herald.com. Posted on Thu, Oct. 02,
2003.
TAMPA - A leading Cuban-American legislator on
Wednesday joined President Bush's reelection campaign
committee -- but only after an emotional closed-door
debate over whether the Bush administration was
committed to sharpening its Cuba policy.
Following intense negotiations with Bush campaign
officials and his own peers in the state Legislature,
Rep. Gaston Cantens agreed late Tuesday to attend
Wednesday's news conference with Gov. Jeb Bush,
Bush-Cheney 2004 manager Ken Mehlman and other
GOP luminaries. Cantens, a Miami Republican, stood
on stage to express his support as a chairman
of "Hispanics for Bush.''
The debate comes two months after Cuban-American
legislators wrote a letter to the White House
warning the president risks losing Cuban-American
support over a controversial decision to send
12 hijack suspects back to Cuba to face prison
time. It shows that the wounds remain raw, even
as Bush aides scramble to repair the damage.
The episode also exposes a growing rift between
the White House and some exile leaders who say
Bush has not fulfilled campaign promises to crack
down on Fidel Castro.
''Some people have concerns about whether enough
is being done or not being done,'' said Cantens,
referring to a meeting Tuesday in Tallahassee
among Cuban-American members of the state House.
"A lot of this is about just making sure
we can establish the avenues of communication.''
Legislators at the meeting said they debated
the invitation to Cantens and two other legislators
for hours, with several suggesting that the event
be skipped, for fear of appearing satisfied with
the administration's progress on Cuban issues.
COMPROMISE REACHED
A compromise was reached: that Cantens would
attend as a liaison ''to convey we want to participate,
but we still have some issues to be discussed,''
said Rep. Ralph Arza, R-Hialeah.
''We want to make sure that the Bush administration
understands we are here, we are willing to be
loyal soldiers, but about Cuba, we just draw a
line in the sand,'' said Rep. Gus Barreiro, R-Miami
Beach. "There are things we need to see happen.''
In an interview, Mehlman waved off the suggestion
that tension remained with Cuban-American leaders.
He said there was a ''discussion'' about "how
we were going to structure the press conference.''
''No one has told me they're going to withhold
active support,'' Mehlman said. "They won't
do it. They support this president.''
ON THE DEFENSIVE
The White House has been on the defensive on
its Cuba policies since July when it repatriated
12 Cubans suspected of hijacking a boat to reach
Florida. The decision drew fiery responses from
leaders of the politically influential Cuban American
National Foundation. The legislators' letter suggested
that, unless the administration becomes more aggressive
in targeting Castro, Bush would risk losing the
traditionally loyal support among the state's
Cuban-American voters.
KEY STATISTIC
In 2000, when Bush won Florida by just 537 votes
after a protracted recount fight, he won more
than 80 percent of the 400,000 Cuban Americans
who voted -- a statistic that is not lost on GOP
strategists making plans for 2004.
Wednesday's event was clearly designed to show
that Bush continues to enjoy Hispanic support
in Florida.
Besides Cantens, state Rep. Marco Rubio, a Miami
Republican who is the House majority leader and
is running to become speaker in 2006, was listed
as a member of the campaign's Florida steering
committee.
Rubio was not at the press conference and other
legislators said it had been agreed that only
Cantens would participate.
Rubio, however, said he had to skip the event
because of pressing legislative committee meetings
in Tallahassee.
Also listed were state Reps. John Quiñones,
R-Kissimmee, and Juan Zapata, R-Miami.
ON COMMITTEE
U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, Lincoln Díaz-Balart
and Mario Díaz-Balart, all Cuban Americans
from Miami, are also on the steering committee.
The Congress members were not involved in sending
the letter, but all have been critical of the
repatriation.
In his public comments Wednesday, Cantens credited
the president with his support for maintaining
the trade embargo with Cuba and with enforcing
travel restrictions to the island.
''If he were not president, the embargo would
have been lifted,'' Cantens said.
Another influential Cuban-American lawmaker,
state Sen. Rudy Garcia, was in the Tampa hotel
for another meeting but came to the event at the
urging of Lt. Gov. Toni Jennings.
Garcia even stepped onto the stage before the
cameras, at the request of Gov. Bush, but said
later he continues to share concerns about the
administration's handling of Cuba.
But, he added, "The closer we are to the
process and the closer we are to the president
and the vice president, the more we could try
to have them understand the concerns of our community.''
Daughter of Bay of Pigs pilot sues Cuba and
Castro
By Luisa Yanez. lyanez@herald.com
The daughter of an American pilot, shot down
and executed by Cuban forces in the days after
the failed 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, on Thursday
filed a lawsuit in Miami-Dade Circuit Court against
the island government and its leader.
''This is one of the hardest decisions I've made
in my life, but my father would have done the
same for me,'' said Janet Ray Weininger, 49, who
announced the lawsuit at a press conference held
at the Bay of Pigs monument in Little Havana.
Surrounding her were her team of attorneys, relatives
and two men who flew alongside her father during
the invasion.
For years, Ray Weininger fought to bring her
father's remains home. Now, she want the people
responsible for his death to pay. Her lawsuit
names the Cuban government, its Army, Fidel Castro
and his brother Raul.
Thomas Willard Ray, who worked for the CIA, was
among a handful of pilots conducting missions
during the ill-fated invasion. He was shot down
April 19, 1961, but survived his injuries, witnesses
told the family. He later was reported dead.
When Ray's body was finally flown home in 1979,
an autopsy revealed he had died of a gunshot to
the head - fired at close range.
''What they did to him was an execution,'' said
one of her attorneys, Leon Patricios. "That
was not a war injury.''
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