CUBA NEWS
The Miami Herald

Officials: Cuban documents show dissidents received no justice

John Pain, Associated Press.

MIAMI - The sentencing documents of the 75 Cuban dissidents convicted in the Castro government's crackdown on opposition earlier this year show the lack of basic freedoms, human rights and impartial justice on the communist island, supporters of a university project said Tuesday.

The documents were obtained by Florida State University, which launched a Web site Tuesday containing the hundreds of pages of court records.

The university's Center for the Advancement of Human Rights worked with the U.S. Interests Section in Havana to get the documents but the center funded the Web site independently, university officials said.

"As a Cuban-American whose family escaped a totalitarian regime ... I know the price a society pays when it lacks freedom to speak, freedom to worship and freedom to dissent," Florida Supreme Court Justice Raoul Cantero said before a news conference at the university in Tallahassee.

The 75 defendants, including independent journalists, were sentenced in April for receiving money from the U.S. government and working with Washington to undermine the regime of Cuban President Fidel Castro. They received anywhere from six to 28 years in prison. None of the trials lasted more than a day.

"People are really getting arrested simply for disagreeing with their government," Cantero said at the news conference.

The goal of the Web site is to draw attention to the "very, very severe and we think draconian human rights abuses," according to Terry Coonan, the center's executive director. The site is also intended to invite people to advocacy, he said.

Carlos Rey, a law student from Miami, was one of the students who worked on developing the Web site this summer.

"This is not simply a Cuban issue," Rey said. "It's not simply a Cuban-American issue. It's a human issue."

Katia Tchourioukanova, who came to the United States from Russia six years ago, is studying education at Florida State. She also worked on the Web site.

"You don't have to be a political science major or a lawyer or a diplomat to become involved in the field of human rights and to try to make some difference," she said.

Lazaro Herrera, a spokesman with the Cuban Government Interests Section in Washington, declined comment Tuesday. Cuba's government has said the trials were necessary to protect itself from U.S.-funded attacks.

The sentencing documents detail how the defendants received money, computers, recording equipment and other help in Havana from the U.S. Interests Section, Washington's diplomatic outpost. The dissidents set up Web sites, talked on U.S.-funded radio stations and published articles to criticize the Cuban government, the documents said.

One journalist, Julio Cesar Galvez Rodriguez, was convicted of "trying to plant the seeds of uncertainty and distrust in the population about the revolutionary functioning of our social system." He was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation, said the documents give a clear picture of the faults of the Cuban justice system.

"There is no actual process of reaching evidence and establishing fact," he said. "These are accusatory documents that are often ratified by the prosecution and defense attorneys."

"At the expense of the 75 political prisoners, the Castro regime has provided the world with an unfortunately tragic view of the state of affairs in Cuba today," said Mark Schlakman, program director of the university's center.

ON THE NET
Rule of Law and Cuba: www.ruleoflawandcuba.fsu.edu

Grammy protesters get their space

City works to keep all peaceful

By Susannah A. Nesmith, snesmith@herald.com. Posted on Tue, Sep. 02, 2003

Feel the Latino, the billboards declare. But city officials and Latin Grammy organizers say some people who feel strongly about Wednesday night's event at the AmericanAirlines Arena will have to keep their distance.

Protesters angry that Cuban artists have been invited to the show will be allowed to congregate a few hundred feet south of the arena, on Biscayne Boulevard adjacent the Port of Miami-Dade's entrance.

Protesters angry that Cuban artists have not been able to come can demonstrate about two blocks north of the arena, under the Metromover line.

About four blocks will separate the groups, enough distance to keep both sides far apart, police say.

''I honestly don't think it's going to be a huge issue,'' said police spokeswoman Herminia Salas-Jacobson. "There's a large span between all these people.''

Police say they're not expecting any trouble from either group of protesters. Organizers say they're satisfied with the city's preparations for the event -- this time.

The Latin Recording Academy pulled the event out of Miami at the last minute in 2001 because of concerns over the location of protesters.

''When the city and the county and the Latin Recording Academy decided to bring the Latin Grammys to Miami, obviously we had no false expectations that there would be no issues to deal with, due to the previous experience,'' said Latin Recording Academy president Gabriel Abaroa.

''I think the police are doing great work,'' he said.

Police won't give any details about their security plans, other than to say uniformed and undercover officers will be working the crowds, including fans who hope to get a glimpse of the stars arriving.

'WE'RE PREPARED'

''We don't expect any problems with [the protesters],'' Salas-Jacobson said. "If something does happen, we're prepared to handle it.''

The protesters demonstrating against U.S. immigration policy are expected to number about 150. The anti-Castro protest will probably be much larger, drawing about 1,500 demonstrators, organizers and police say.

Anti-Castro protesters insist their demonstrations will be peaceful -- nothing like the ugly, bottle-throwing episode that occurred in 1999 during a downtown concert by a Cuban band, Los Van Van.

But they're not laying their placards down.

''We can't allow, here in the capital of the exiles, that they come and hold an event and Castro agents come and make a joke of that exile,'' said protest organizer Francisco García Martínez.

The organizers were hoping to put unmanned signs on the sidewalk in front of the Freedom Tower, directly across the street from the green carpet entryway to the arena. But city officials nixed the idea.

''The mayor didn't want to cooperate with that,'' García Martínez said. "We will punish him with our votes.''

NO SIGNS ALLOWED

Mayor Manny Diaz's office referred questions to City Attorney Alejandro Vilarello, who said the signs wouldn't be allowed because signs are never allowed on public sidewalks.

Despite the city's decision on the unmanned signs, García Martínez said he was happy with the treatment organizers have received from police.

Lida Rodríguez-Taseff, president of the Greater Miami chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, helped protesters negotiate with the city. She said the climate in the Miami exile community has softened over the years.

''There has been a sea change in the way that the exile community views protests and views the First Amendment,'' she said.

"I don't think there will be any problems with security or with violence.''

'Dollarization' keeping Cuba afloat

But expected political reforms have not followed

By Nancy San Martin, nsanmartin@herald.com. Posted on Mon, Sep. 01, 2003

When President Fidel Castro legalized the use of U.S. dollars in Cuba in 1993, many predicted that the move would inexorably lead to a free-market economy and the death of the socialist system.

Ten years later, the dollar has created new classes of haves and have-nots and has benefited whites more than Cuba's black majority. Yet it also has helped keep the economy from sinking and preserved socialism, several analysts said.

The ''dollarization'' of Cuba, as the change came to be known, has evolved as the backbone of an economy sustained by dollars from family remittance from those who fled the island as well from the millions of foreign tourists who flock to Cuba.

''The reforms solidified the remittances market as the most important market and the savior of the economy,'' said Teo Babún, managing partner of Cuba Caribbean Consulting, a firm that monitors investment opportunities in a post-embargo Cuba.

''The mere fact that they have kept going, and that the economy has survived amid ups and downs, indicates that it was a genius move,'' he said.

Castro legalized the dollar amid a grinding economic crisis after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the loss of about $5 billion a year in Moscow subsidies. The following year, imports plunged to $2.2 billion, from $13 billion in 1989.

SLIGHT SHIFT

Soon after it became legal for Cubans to hold dollars, Cubans flooded dollar-only stores once reserved for foreigners and diplomats, and foreign investors and tourists began arriving in the previously solidly communist island, a slight shift toward capitalism that some analysts predicted would inevitably lead to political change.

''It isn't possible to make economic reforms without political reforms,'' then-Venezuelan Foreign Minister Fernando Ochoa Antich said at the time after a trip to Havana.

But that did not happen because the Castro government retained ultimate power over the amount of private enterprise allowed, industries, tourism development and the dollar flows, said Antonio Jorge, a professor of economics and international relations at Florida International University. ''Some people expected this to be the beginning of a reform process leading to a market-type of economy, a socialist market economy,'' Jorge said.

"But, in effect, what Fidel said was literal: This was simply a stop-gap type measure designed to keep the regime and the economy afloat.''

Additionally, Castro entrusted his armed forces with the de facto control of a large chunk of the economy, apparently to ensure that his experiment with capitalism remained in loyal hands.

A recent report by the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami said the military now runs business ventures that bring in an estimated $1 billion a year, from tourist hotels to domestic airlines, restaurants and dollar-only retail shops.

'FREE REIN'

''The armed forces is the only entity that has free rein on the economy,'' said Hans de Salas del Valle, research associate at the UM center.

''This will be important not only during Fidel Castro's lifetime but during the transition,'' after Castro is gone.

Today, remittances from Cubans living abroad are estimated at $400 million to $1 billion a year. Before 1993, Cubans found with dollars, sent through couriers by relatives abroad or scrounged up on the black market, could be sent to jail.

Remittances from Cubans in the United States might increase further with new U.S. government rules announced in March that allow travelers to carry as much as $3,000 to relatives on the island.

Having U.S. dollars is extremely important in a country where a salary of 200 Cuban pesos a month amounts to about $10.

The Cuban government has said that about 30 percent of its 11 million citizens have direct access to hard currency, either through remittances or dollar-related jobs.

MAIN BENEFICIARIES

The overwhelming beneficiaries of the dollar system are whites, who account for 37 percent of the population in Cuba, because their relatives make up the largest segment of Cubans living abroad.

Of the nearly 900,000 Cuban immigrants in the United States, 89 percent are white, 3 percent are black, and 7 percent did not specify a race, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Whatever level of resentment there might be among blacks appears to have been stifled by the fact that the legalization of dollars also gave more Cubans indirect access to dollars -- as plumbers, hairdressers, car mechanics and others who charge their clients in greenbacks.

''From a sociological standpoint, it has meant an increase in income inequality,'' said Jorge of FIU. "Ideologically and politically speaking, this is contrary to what the government would like to happen.''

"How Castro has succeeded in getting the nonreceivers [of dollars] to accept that situation, I do not know.''

Herald database editor Tim Henderson contributed to this report.

Keep Cuba sanctions, Democratic presidential candidate Kerry says

By Peter Wallsten, pwallsten@herald.com. Posted on Mon, Sep. 01, 2003

Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry, a Democratic candidate for president who has campaigned heavily in Florida for cash and votes, appeared to shift his stance on the trade embargo with Cuba on Sunday, telling a national television audience that he now supports keeping sanctions in place.

Kerry's remarks, delivered on NBC's Meet the Press, seemed to contradict statements he made during a 2000 interview with The Boston Globe that a reevaluation of the embargo was ''way overdue'' and that the only reason Cuba has been treated differently than China and Russia is the "politics of Florida.''

Kerry on Sunday called that ''an honest statement,'' but when NBC's Tim Russert asked whether he endorsed lifting sanctions he replied: "Not unilaterally, not now, no.''

The Massachusetts senator, who has met privately over the past year with exile leaders, said Sunday that he would support easing travel restrictions, though he was vague about how to do it and whether he was referring to tourism. He also said he might consider allowing more money to be sent to dissidents.

''I think that people traveling in there weakens Castro,'' Kerry said.

"I don't like Fidel Castro. Some people have cottoned to him in our party and go down and visit. I went to Cuba once and I purposely said I don't want to.''

Kerry's shift was similar in tone to that of his biggest rival for the Democratic nomination, former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean, who told The Herald last week that recent human rights abuses by Castro have convinced him that now is the wrong time to end the embargo -- even though his inclination is to ease sanctions as a path to democratization.

The attention to nuance by the two leading Democrats in the race on what is essentially an issue of higher interest in South Florida illustrates the growing belief among Democratic strategists that they can make a legitimate appeal for traditionally Republican Cuban-American voters in the state that decided the 2000 election and could do the same next year.

Cuban Americans were decisive in 2000, when more than 8 in 10 of the state's 400,000 Cuban-American voters backed Bush.

But leading Cuban-American activists recently have criticized what they call the Bush administration's failure to follow through on campaign promises to ratchet up pressure on Castro's government -- especially after last month's repatriation of 12 suspected boat hijackers, sent back after the Cuban government agreed to sentence them to a maximum of 10 years in prison instead of executing them.

Some elected Republicans and the Cuban American National Foundation have even said they would consider withholding their support from Bush's reelection if his administration didn't intensify its focus on Cuba.

Two of the demands were satisfied this month: the indictment of Cuban pilots who shot down planes flown by Brothers to the Rescue activists in 1996, and technological improvements to TV Martí broadcasting into the island.

Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American National Foundation and one of the leading critics of Bush's policies, likened the shifts by Kerry and Dean to that of other high-profile former advocates for lifting sanctions, such as Secretary of State Colin Powell and Vice President Dick Cheney.

''We've had eleventh-hour conversions from Cheney, Powell, Spain and Mexico,'' said Garcia in an interview Sunday. "If John Kerry has seen the light, welcome to the fight.''

But, he added, "The distinction between Kerry today and George Bush today is that George Bush has the responsibility to act because he's president and Kerry has yet to be tested on the issue.''

Kerry indicated Sunday that his stance was not dramatically different from that of Dean, who has surged over the past month to surpass Kerry in opinion polls in the key early-primary states. Dean last week chided Castro for imprisoning dissidents and holding ''show trials,'' saying those developments make lessening sanctions inappropriate for now.

Under questioning Sunday, Kerry tried to appease Cuban-American activists while not necessarily recanting an anti-embargo stance popular in farm states such as Iowa, home of the first in the nation presidential caucuses, where business leaders thirst for lucrative new markets in Cuba.

''I don't change what I said,'' Kerry said. "But I think we need to move step by step in a way that begins to engage and see what we can do. But I wouldn't just give [Castro] a reward for nothing, no.''

Ex-champ Gomez starts over in the U.S.

Heavyweight bout on tap

By Santos A. Perez, sperez@herald.com.

The first leg of Juan Carlos Gomezs professional career took him to Germany and 36 fights. Gomez is now in his second leg, where quantity of bouts wont be as significant as quality.

Gomez, a former Cuban amateur boxer and ex-WBC cruiserweight titleholder, moved to the United States three months ago to seek his fortunes in the heavyweight division. He will have his first opportunity on HBO in a three-bout program Sept. 27 at Buffalo, N.Y.

''On September 27, I begin my career all over again,'' Gomez said. "I am preparing for this fight like I have never prepared before.''

Gomez (36-0, 31 KOs) will face Sinan Samil Sam (18-0, 11 KOs) in a scheduled 10-round bout. The HBO telecast also will feature fights involving Joe Mesi and DaVarryl Williamson and Dominic Guinn and Duncan Dokiwari.

''If I dont do well on this fight, everything could crumble,'' Gomez said. "Thats why it is so important that I perform well and prove my worth in the heavyweight division.''

Gomezs promotional backers are enthusiastic about their fighters potential.

''He has gone through four sparring partners,'' said Leon Margules of Team Freedom, which co-promotes Gomez with Sugar Ray Leonard. "I have never seen a fighter throw so many clean punches.''

Gomez, 30, defected from Cuba eight years ago and established his career in Germany. A light heavyweight as an amateur, Gomez eventually moved to the 190-pound cruiserweight class and captured the WBC crown with a unanimous decision over Marcelo Dominguez in 1998.

But after a three-year reign, which included six successful defenses, Gomez moved to the heavyweight division. The problem was Gomez fought for Klaus-Peter Kohl, the Germany-based promoter who also has the Ukraines Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko.

Gomez felt the Klitschkos were Kohls top priority. As soon as his contract expired, Gomez signed a promotional deal with Leonard and Fort Lauderdale-based Team Freedom, which also promotes former Cuban amateur boxers Joel Casamayor and Diobelys Hurtado.

TOUGH DECISION

If Roy Jones Jr. returns to the light heavyweight division and faces WBA-IBF champion Antonio Tarver, Jones WBA heavyweight crown could be declared vacant. The Venezuela-based WBA then could force a title bout between top-ranked contenders and familiar foes David Tua and Hasim Rahman.

Tua and Rahman have fought twice. In March, their 12-round bout ended in a draw. Five years ago, Tua scored a controversial TKO of Rahman at Miccosukee Indian Gaming.

White House urged charges in 1996 Cuba shoot-down

By Tim Johnson And Nancy San Martin, tjohnson@krwashington.com. Posted on Sat, Aug. 30, 2003.

WASHINGTON - Several high-level meetings at the White House since May and a presidential limousine ride through Miami streets in June led to the Justice Department's decision last week to indict three Cuban air force officers for the 1996 shoot-downs of two Brothers to the Rescue airplanes, according to political insiders familiar with the case.

The indictment, which had languished for years in government bureaucracy, was put on the fast track amid eroding political support in the Cuban-American community for President Bush and his 2004 reelection bid, the insiders added.

A major White House player in the decision was Deputy National Security Advisor Stephen J. Hadley, who, according to one U.S. government official, met with Cuban-American legislators at least twice over the past three months to discuss the indictments and other get-tough actions on Cuba.

LIMOUSINE RIDE

On June 30, during a brief visit to Miami, President Bush invited two Republican congressmen, brothers Mario and Lincoln Díaz-Balart, to ride with him in a limousine through Miami.

''We discussed a number of different issues,'' Rep. Mario Díaz-Balart said in a telephone interview.

"It was Lincoln, myself, [Florida Gov.] Jeb Bush and a national security guy.''

Díaz-Balart declined to confirm whether the indictments came up in the limousine conversation, saying only that "the community had some grave concerns as to the inaction of the administration.''

'SOLELY' POLITICAL

Other political insiders, though, said that discontent in the Cuban-American community had caught the attention of the White House political team, led by political strategist Karl Rove, and a course of action was designed to win back support.

''The release of the indictment was solely and exclusively political,'' said a senior Capitol Hill staffer who follows U.S. policy on Cuba closely and favors increased pressures on the government there.

"It was the Karl Rove traditional strategy of putting out fires but not going too far to upset other constituencies.''

The staff member, who spoke on condition of anonymity, noted that the federal indictment had languished in inter-agency wrangling for more than a year, but suddenly sped up with the high-level White House meetings that began in late May.

JAMMING

The indictment coincided with an administration announcement that Radio and TV Martí would begin satellite transmissions to overcome Cuban jamming of the U.S. government-operated stations.

Officials in the State, Defense and Justice departments declined to outline the inter-agency debate or the timing of the indictment's announcement.

''People worked very hard. It did take a long time, but that is the way decisions are made around here,'' said a State Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Díaz-Balart said he does not believe the indictment was accelerated for political reasons, arguing that only legal and bureaucratic reviews caused the delays.

He said the issue of indicting Cubans first arose at a luncheon in Miami in mid-2001 that he and several other prominent Cuban Americans offered for Attorney General John Ashcroft. That evening, the conservative Ashcroft also dined with leaders of the Cuban American National Foundation.

At both gatherings, Ashcroft listened intently to appeals for legal action, he said. ''I don't know why it took so long,'' Díaz-Balart added.

Frustration among Cuban-American activists has been building for months, testing the traditional loyalty that many exiles feel toward the Republican Party.

KEY STATE

The Bush administration repeatedly has said that a review of Cuba policy is under way, but no significant new measures have been unveiled.

In July, exile activists railed against the administration for repatriating 12 Cubans suspected of hijacking a boat to reach Florida.

Two weeks ago, 13 Republican state House members wrote to the White House suggesting that Cuban-American support was in danger for the 2004 elections. Florida, as the 2000 elections showed, is a key state in presidential elections, with about 400,000 Cuban-American voters.

Still unclear is whether federal prosecutors ever seriously considered charging Cuban President Fidel Castro and his brother Raúl, commander of the armed forces, for ordering the MiG pilots to shoot down the two civilian aircraft in international waters off Cuba in 1996, killing four people.

The Castro brothers were left out of last week's indictment. Instead, a grand jury charged a Cuban air force general and two MiG pilots with murder, conspiracy to kill U.S. nationals and destruction of aircraft.

While relatives of the four killed in the shoot-down welcomed the 11-page indictment, some exile leaders said it was not enough.

''I don't care about the ones below Castro,'' said José Basulto, lone survivor of the attack.

"The only one who was significant here, the one for whom an indictment would have an impact in Cuba, is Fidel Castro.''

Celia tribute is opener

By Jordan Levin, jlevin@herald.com. Posted on Sun, Aug. 31, 2003

The salute to salsera Celia Cruz will feature the Fania All-Stars, the seminal New York salsa band of the '60s and '70s.

The Latin Grammys may be all about honoring the Latin music of today, but on Wednesday night the show will start off by honoring a woman who, although gone, is very much in the minds of Latin music lovers: beloved Cuban salsera Celia Cruz, who passed away July 16.

In the first moments of the telecast, CBS viewers across the country will be treated to a blast of premium old-school salsa, featuring the Fania All-Stars, the seminal New York salsa band of the 1960s and 1970s with whom Cruz performed. The segment, produced by Emilio Estefan, will also feature some of today's top salsa and tropical singers. Sources say they will include Marc Anthony, La India and Oscar D'Leon. Miami's own DJ Le Spam, who spins old school salsa and Cuban music with the Spam All-Stars, will play briefly at the segment's start.

''Celia Cruz has been with us from the first Latin Grammy Awards show, and we couldn't let this year be any different,'' said Latin Recording Academy spokeswoman Marya Meyer. ''There have been lots of wonderful festivities honoring her across the United States, in Miami, New Jersey. This will be the one time everyone gets to join together worldwide to pay tribute to the beloved Celia Cruz.''

Gloria Estefan, who will perform in the tribute, said it was especially fitting that Cruz be honored now that the Latin Grammys are finally being held in a city that was like a second home for the salsera. ''This has been a hard-fought Latin Grammys,'' Estefan said. ''She chose to have her last farewell in Miami. She's gone and now they're here.''

The Latin Grammys' long, winding road to Miami

Leadership changes lured show here, insiders say

By Oscar Corral And Carolyn Salazar, ocorral@herald.com. Posted on Sun, Aug. 31, 2003

As Carlos Santana jammed on the stage at the Latin Grammy show a year ago in Los Angeles, Miami Mayor Manny Diaz was just another face in the audience, grooving to one of his favorite acts.

But Diaz, who graduated from high school in the 1970s and has been a Santana fan for years, had a major grievance: He had to fly 3,000 miles to see him play.

'I sat there and I thought to myself, 'This is really an event that belongs in Miami,' '' Diaz said in a recent interview. "I looked around and so many of those artists are part of Miami, a lot of them live and record here . . . We can have this in our own backyard.''

When the cameras roll and the sound system kicks up to full gear at the AmericanAirlines Arena Wednesday for the Fourth Annual Latin Grammy Awards, it will be the culmination of an intense year of lobbying by Miami's top political, entertainment and business leaders.

According to interviews with those involved in the negotiations, perhaps no factor was more important than the leadership changes at the Latin Grammy organization and the city of Miami.

Diaz and Gabriel Abaroa, president of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, or LARAS, replaced controversial figures whom many blamed for the dramatic pullout of the show from Miami two years ago in the middle of a dispute over a site for Cuban exile protests: former Miami Mayor Joe Carollo and Michael Greene, former head of the Latin Grammys.

Although Carollo blames Greene for leaving because of a lack of funding, and Greene has declined to comment on his role, both have reputations for being difficult.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas, for one, said he refused to deal with the Latin Academy as long as Greene was in power because he blamed Greene, not Carollo, for the 2001 fiasco.

Penelas renewed talks last year when Greene stepped down.

Others point to the importance of Diaz replacing Carollo.

'LOGISTICAL MARRIAGE'

''Manny has done an incredible job,'' music mogul Emilio Estefan said in a recent interview.

"He realized that he is not just a Cuban mayor, but a mayor for all of Miami. And that's extremely important.''

Manolo Diaz, chairman of the Hispanic-majority board of Trustees for LARAS, said Mayor Diaz was ''more flexible'' than the former mayor.

''The city of Miami and the Latin Grammys are a very logical marriage,'' Manolo Diaz said. "The fact that in the past that didn't happen is because of the lack of flexibility by both parties.''

The relationship between Mayor Diaz and Penelas, and the Latin Grammy executives is starkly different from the relationship between Carollo and Greene. Diaz and Penelas met and spoke repeatedly with Abaroa and others at the Latin Academy over the last year, lobbying subtly at dinners, parties, awards ceremonies.

Carollo, in contrast, said he never communicated with Greene, even when rumors were circulating two years ago that he was leave Miami.

''I never met with Greene or spoke to him,'' Carollo said. "I didn't feel I needed to get involved in that.''

Abaroa, a Mexican who has been living in Miami for nine years, shrugged off comments that he should be credited for bringing the Grammy show to Miami, saying it was a decision by the board of trustees -- not his -- and came because of successful lobbying by Diaz and Penelas.

''I am totally focused on making sure this is about music, not about politics,'' he said. "Miami is in fact the capital of Latin America in the United States -- and not only for music.''

COMMUNICATION

This year, communication between the Grammy officials and city leaders was key.

Miami-Dade College President Eduardo Padron was among those who helped spark some talks between the Latin Academy and Diaz. He says the Latin Grammy show is the peak of an industry that is creating jobs for young people in South Florida.

''It can give many opportunities for young people to start careers in music,'' he said.

At a dinner honoring U2 singer Bono the day before the regular Grammy event in New York in March, a core group of Miami bigwigs teamed up to sell South Florida to Latin Academy Board members.

Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, said he shared a table with Manolo Diaz, Abaroa, and Emilio Estefan, among others. At a nearby table were Penelas and Mayor Diaz.

All night, Mas Santos said, the Miami crew talked up the board members. Diaz and Penelas gave a formal presentation to the Latin Academy Board during that visit.

''After that, I had a strong feeling that we had won, that we were going to be the hosts,'' Mas Santos said.

Penelas said he adjusted his negotiating tactics this time.

''I made sure there was an agreement ahead of time,'' Penelas said. "I was embarrassed once. I was not going to be embarrassed twice.''

Penelas and Diaz were careful not to repeat the mistakes of 2001, when Greene decided to leave Miami because he said Carollo had decided at the last minute to move protesters closer to the AmericanAirlines Arena than originally planned.

''We had kept Gabriel [Abaroa] apprised of all the different [protest] options, because obviously, he has concerns, too,'' Diaz said.

Indeed, the mind-set of those involved in talks over the proposed protest site was less adversarial this year, said Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the Miami Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

Two years ago, Rodriguez-Taseff said, the city gave the Latin Grammy organizers such a wide-ranging security zone that Cuban exiles were left with little choice but to choose a protest site "that nearly reached Hialeah.''

In talks with Carollo, the protesters and the ACLU convinced him to move the protesters closer late in the game.

But this year things were different.

AWAKENING

''There has been a philosophical awakening by the city of Miami. They now understand the community is entitled to their First Amendment right to protest,'' Rodriguez-Taseff said.

But Rodriguez-Taseff said she is still not entirely happy with the process. She said the Cuban exiles should have been involved in the talks earlier.

Francisco Garcia-Martinez, who represents an umbrella group of Cuban-exile organizations planning to protest at the show, said Carollo was more willing to meet with protesters and stuck up for them more.

''I respect Carollo more for his position. Diaz is more hypocritical,'' he said.

Diaz said he was surprised by Garcia-Martinez's comments. ''I think it's a shame he would say something like that because we've worked very closely with [the protest groups] to arrive at something that works for everybody,'' Diaz said.

Carollo said Diaz has also benefited from a more tame political atmosphere in Miami. In 2001, Miami was still reeling from the Elian Gonzalez controversy, which badly divided the community, Carollo said.

''The climate [Diaz] has got now is very different from the climate I had then,'' Carollo said.

Estefan said Diaz could have also backed down to appease protesters, but he stuck to his position through the criticism because he felt it was in Miami's best interest to host the show.

''I think the leadership today is proud to be Cuban, respects the pain of exiles, but they have a more international state of mind,'' Estefan said. "The biggest victory for exiles is that the Grammys come here.''

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