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April 19, 2006

Venezuela, Cuba likely to get U.N. spots

Despite Bush administration efforts to stop Venezuela and Cuba from joining key U.N. councils, the two nations' chances are good.

By Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is battling to stop Venezuela and Cuba from gaining seats in important U.N. posts in a confrontation that has many Latin American nations caught in the middle, diplomats and analysts say.

Most observers believe Washington faces an uphill battle to keep Venezuela out of the Security Council and Cuba out of a newly created U.N. Human Rights Council.

COURTING NATIONS

While President Bush is generally disliked abroad, leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro have courted nations with a strong anti-U.S. discourse and offerings that range from discounted oil to free eye surgery.

The first showdown will take place May 9, when the 191-member U.N. General Assembly votes for 47 members of a new Human Rights Council. Eleven Latin American nations, including Venezuela and Cuba, are vying for eight spots reserved for the region.

Venezuela also wants to replace Argentina as one of the two Latin American members on the 15-seat Security Council. That election, to a two-year term, is expected in October.

''It is consistent with [Chávez's] quest to be a global player,'' said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank, who noted that Chávez has supported Iran's nuclear program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally appealed to countries not to vote for Venezuela, and Washington is making it clear it doesn't want Cuba or Venezuela in either U.N. agency.

''It's about ensuring that these organs in the U.N. are effective in upholding the principles of the U.N., and the membership is key,'' said Ben Chang, a spokesman for the U.S. mission before the United Nations.

The new Human Rights Council replaced the previous Commission on Human Rights, where countries accused of rights abuses such as Cuba, Iran and Zimbabwe regularly became members and then worked to stop its condemnations.

NEW COUNCIL

In March, the United Nations created the new body with tougher membership requirements and other changes. But the U.S. government, arguing the reforms did not go far enough, voted against the new council and then declined to run for a seat.

Many human rights activists and diplomats believe Cuba has a good chance of winning a seat on the council, thanks to Havana's efficient diplomatic corps and friendships with other small and poor nations.

''My guess is they'll probably get in,'' said Iain Levine, who heads the U.N. program at Human Rights Watch. "Obviously, one is concerned when a government that violates human rights is on the council, but [the council] will be stronger than the individuals on it.''

Washington, however, would view Cuba's election as a bad sign.

''It would be an unfortunate and sad statement that it's business as usual,'' said a State Department official, who asked for anonymity to speak freely on a delicate subject.

The other Latin American countries running for council seats are Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay, according to Human Rights Watch.

Diplomats say Venezuela's bid to join the council is more of a long shot because the country sharply criticized the resolution that created it. But its chances are much better at securing a Security Council seat.

Venezuela has been campaigning for months for the post, reaching out to countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East, said Imeria Nuñez de Odreman, Venezuela's acting ambassador to the United Nations.

''We are very confident we can win,'' she added.

Venezuela needs at least two-thirds of the General Assembly votes and to beat out Guatemala, a U.S.-backed candidate for one of the rotating seats on the Security Council.

Rice asked Caribbean leaders to support Guatemala's bid when she met Caribbean Community leaders last month. U.S. and Latin American diplomats say she is also likely to raise the issue when she meets Friday with Alejandro Foxley, the foreign minister of Chile, a key moderate voice in Latin American affairs.

LITTLE CHANCE

But most observers say Guatemala, despite U.S. support, has little chance of winning because it lacks Venezuela's worldwide reach.

Venezuela has 11 embassies in Africa -- a crucial voting bloc -- second only to Brazil and Cuba. And the Chávez government has aggressively used its oil wealth to gain more influence on the international stage, selling crude to Caribbean nations on easy terms, buying billions of dollars worth of bonds from Argentina and Ecuador and ordering oil tankers from Brazilian shipyards.

Shifter said the United States should be careful not to overplay its hand.

''At the end of the day, most governments would prefer to work with the United States,'' he said, "but in a way they are not seen as apologists for the Bush administration.''

Washington opposes seats for Venezuela and Cuba on U.N. bodies

By Pablo Bachelet, pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

WASHINGTON - Washington faces uphill battle against Venezuela and Cuba in the U.N.

The Bush administration is battling to stop Venezuela and Cuba from gaining seats in important U.N. posts in a confrontation that has many Latin American nations caught in the middle, diplomats and analysts say.

Most observers believe Washington faces an uphill battle to keep Venezuela out of the Security Council and Cuba out of a newly created U.N. Human Rights Council.

Venezuela also wants to replace Argentina as one of the two Latin American members on the 15-seat Security Council. That election, to a two-year term, is expected in October.

''It is consistent with [Chávez's] quest to be a global player,'' said Michael Shifter of the Inter-American Dialogue think-tank, who noted that Chávez has supported Iran's nuclear program.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has personally appealed to countries not to vote for Venezuela, and Washington is making it clear it doesn't want Cuba or Venezuela in either U.N. agency.

The new Human Rights Council replaced the previous Commission on Human Rights, where countries accused of rights abuses like Cuba, Iran and Zimbabwe regularly became members and then worked to stop its condemnations.

Washington, however, would view Cuba's election as a bad sign.

''It would be an unfortunate and sad statement that it's business as usual,'' said a State Department official, who asked for anonymity to speak freely on a delicate subject.

The other Latin American countries running for council seats are Argentina, Venezuela, Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Nicaragua and Uruguay, according to Human Rights Watch.

Venezuela needs at least two-thirds of the General Assembly votes and to beat out Guatemala, a U.S.-backed candidate for one of the rotating seats on the Security Council.

But most observers say Guatemala, despite U.S. support, has little chance of winning because it lacks Venezuela's worldwide reach.

Cuba book ban fails; appeals process to continue

By Matthew I. Pinzur, mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

The Miami-Dade School Board today rejected a move to immediately remove a controversial children's book on Cuba from all school libraries, clearing the way for an appeals process to continue.

The bill failed in a 6-3 vote, with sponsor Frank Bolaños and board members Perla Tabares Hantman and Marta Pérez supporting an immediate ban of Vamos A Cuba (subtitled A Visit to Cuba).

District lawyers said the bill would likely have violated a landmark Supreme Court decision and possibly state law, and the American Civil Liberties Union indicated its readiness to file a lawsuit had the bill passed.

''I am not willing to spend a quarter of million dollars on money that should be spent in the classroom to litigate an issue that is well-established in the law of this country,'' said board member Evelyn Greer.

Moreover, board members were loathe to cut off an appeals process that began Monday with a group of school staff and parents reviewing the book. The group is expected to make a recommendation late this week or early next.

Their decision can be appealed to a 17-member committee appointed by Superintendent Rudy Crew, and that ruling can be appealed to the School Board.

''I have no other choice but to abide by our own rule,'' said board member Solomon Stinson.

The five-year-old book drew attention this month after a parent at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary complained about its depiction of Cuba under Fidel Castro. In one oft-cited passage, author Alta Schreier writes: "The people of Cuba eat, work and study like you.''

''Nothing could be further from the truth,'' Bolaños wrote in his bill, citing food rations, proscribed employment and forced school chants about Castro's greatness.

During today's debate, he said the book never should have been purchased in the first place because it violated district standards.

''It is full of biases, prejudices, distortions and stereotypes,'' he said.

Pérez compared Vamos A Cuba to ''pornography'' and ''books about devil worship,'' which she said no school library would stock.

A group of about 15 protesters demonstrated against the book outside the board headquarters, and numerous school librarians were among those spoke against the bill during a passionate debate that flared for more than two hours.

''Freedom of speech is not freedom to lie,'' said Sergio Rioseco, who recalled his restrictive education in Cuba.

The most heated moment came after comments from controversial Cuban activist Eddie Levy, who supports dialogue with Castro and opposed removing the book from shelves.

''Say no to censorship, say no to repression,'' said Levy, whose speech was followed by angry boos that prompted Greer to suggest posting police in the auditorium's aisles. Chairman Agustín Barrera declined, but warned -- in both Spanish and English -- that unruly audience members would be removed.

Speakers were almost evenly split on the book, and many said removing the book was an action Castro himself would take.

''I am terrified of the suggestion of banning it from our schools to appease a segment of the community to which I happen to belong,'' said Omar Rodriguez-Hazan, a school media specialist who lived in Cuba until he was 10 and said he suffered its hardships. "I fear we may become what we protest against -- a totalitarian government.''

Perhaps the afternoon's quietest comments came from Juan Amador Rodriguez, the father whose complaints launched the controversy. He, too, recalled his childhood in Cuba, contrasting it to the photographs in Vamos a Cuba.

''The smile on the faces of those children, I never had,'' Rodriguez said through a translator.

The lengthy debate might only be a prelude; if the appeals continue, the matter could be before the board again in May or June. An identical process could happen at each of the 36 schools that own the book.

''Let the process take its place,'' board member Robert Ingram said. "It will probably find its way back to us anyway.''

Some Cubans are converting to Islam

Islam is attracting a small number of Cubans -- anywhere from 300 to 3,000 -- but some have doubted their sincerity.

By Rui Ferreira, El Nuevo Herald. Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

A small number of Cubans have embraced Islam, gathering for prayers and attending religious events mostly sponsored by Iranian diplomats in Havana, one of the converts says.

Some Havana residents place the total number of converts at 300; others, at 3,000. What's certain is that about 70 usually attend the gatherings hosted by the Iranian diplomats.

''We are a small community that struggles on. . . . Many people associate Muslims with a not-very moderate Islam, but we are very moderate,'' said Alí Nicolás Cossío, a former foreign ministry official who now reports for the Voice of Islam, the official Iranian radio station.

'The community owes much to the embassies' moral and human support, and the Iranian Embassy -- the only Shiite mission -- stands out in that regard,'' Cossío told El Nuevo Herald in a telephone interview from his home in Havana.

There are about 16 Arab diplomatic missions in Havana, Cossío said, but the Iranian embassy plays the leading role in contacts with the local Muslims.

SLATE OF ACTIVITIES

The mission created a writing contest about Iranian history, hopes to set up a ''reflection group'' on Islamic subjects and earlier this month hosted a reception to mark the anniversary of the birth of the prophet Mohammed.

The Communist Party's Department of Religious Activities has appointed an official to work as liaison with the converts, even though the Cuban government has long been leery of outside religious groups as potentially undermining its control over the island and its people.

''An interesting dilemma,'' said Daniel Alvarez, an expert on Islam at Florida International University. "If these Cubans are looking for support and [the Cuban government] acts against them, the Iranians might see that as an anti-Muslim gesture.''

AID THE NEEDY

''The other aspect is the issue of human solidarity,'' Alvarez said.

"The Koran says that if someone asks a Muslim for help, there is an obligation to go to the aid of the needy. And if the needy is a Muslim, the obligation is even greater.''

Religious practices have risen sharply in Cuba since the early 1990s, when an economic crisis buffeted its people and after the government abandoned its official atheism.

Foreign religious groups regularly send humanitarian aid, which attracts more local followers.

NUMBERS NOT PRIORITY

Cossío said the new Muslim converts "are in favor of a community with values that are more cultural than material. We are not interested in growth in numbers but in growth in human quality.''

Cuban leader Fidel Castro's government has long maintained good relations with most Muslim countries. It strongly supported Yasser Arafat, the late leader of the Palestine Liberation Organization, and had close contacts with former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. Cuba also has close political and trade links to Iran, which is predominantly Shiite.

Back in the late 1970s, Havana hosted so many embassies from Arab countries that the diplomatic missions, with the Cuban government's permission, created a group, the Arab Union of Cuba, and obtained a meeting place.

HAVE SOUGHT LINKS

The new Muslim converts have tried to establish links to the Arab Union, according to knowledgeable Cubans in Havana. But the union considers itself a lay organization and has not provided them with space for religious services.

There's an ''official'' mosque -- within the Arab House -- a restaurant-meeting hall in Old Havana sponsored by the Office of the Havana Historian Eusebio Leal.

But Cossío said that's only for diplomats and foreigners.

REQUEST FOR MOSQUE

So the converts are now asking for permission to build a mosque in Havana.

''Cuba is the only Latin American country without a mosque, and where there's no mosque it is very difficult to establish social exchanges,'' Cossío said.

For now, though, that would seem unlikely. For years, the Islamic diplomatic community asked for one but had to resort to makeshift prayer halls in diplomatic compounds. And Cuba has been all but barring other religions from building new temples.

Brigade of exiles takes a look back

Brigade 2506 members mark the 45th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

The torch lit in their honor flickered behind them. The names of the dead were read aloud. Sunglasses covered the tears on some faces as bad memories came flooding back.

For more than 100 veterans from the Bay of Pigs, Monday marked not only the 45th anniversary of the failed invasion, but a chance to see and embrace some of their fellow combatants from long ago.

Felix Rodriguez, president of the Brigade 2506 veterans association, led former fighters in reading the names of fellow soldiers who died before, during and after the invasion, a solemn stretch of words that lasted 15 minutes at the Bay of Pigs Memorial in Little Havana.

''We're near the end of the tyrant,'' said Rodriguez, trying to address the palpable frustration in the crowd that Fidel Castro remains Cuba's leader in the communist country. "We want a free, independent, democratic Cuba. Not a succession from one group to another.''

One notable VIP in attendance was Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who expressed his admiration for Brigade 2506.

'IT HASN'T CHANGED'

''These people didn't talk, they actually did something,'' Alvarez said. "But it hasn't changed. Every Cuban American wants to see a democratic form of government in Cuba.''

On April 17, 1961, about 1,500 Cuban exiles invaded the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba. The invasion collapsed in the next three days, as Castro's army outnumbered the exiles, and President John F. Kennedy decided not to provide crucial air support. More than 100 exiles were killed before, during and after the invasion, and almost 1,300 were taken prisoner. Most of the prisoners were released and sent to the United States in exchange for food and medicine the following year.

One Brigade 2506 veteran present at the ceremony Monday was Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto, who was part of an infiltration team that went ashore in Las Villas before the invasion to try to foment a counterrevolution. Souto eluded capture by seeking asylum in the Brazilian embassy, he said.

PAINFUL

Another veteran, Alfredo Oliva Sr., 63, became teary-eyed after the names of fallen colleagues were read. Oliva never disembarked at Bay of Pigs. He was one of several soldiers who patrolled the coast of Cuba's Oriente province from a boat. He was 18 at the time, among the brigade's youngest.

''For me, it's very difficult to accept that it's been 45 years since the Bay of Pigs, and almost 50 years since Castro has been in power,'' Oliva said, "but we go halfway around the world to Iraq to spread freedom and democracy when this tyrant remains 90 miles from our shores.''

19 Cubans dropped on beach

By Natalie P. Mcneal, nmcneal@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Tue, Apr. 18, 2006

Nineteen Cubans came ashore in Hollywood early Monday and were being interviewed by immigration authorities.

The group -- four adult women, 12 adult men, two girls and one boy -- appeared to be in good health, said Hollywood police Capt. Tony Rode.

The Cubans were discovered in the 3500 block of North Ocean Drive, at Hollywood North Beach Park, Rode said.

Police said they thought a go-fast boat dropped them off about 6 a.m. Police were investigating the possibility that the migrants were brought in by a smuggling operation.

The Cubans were taken to the U.S. Border Patrol office in Pembroke Pines, where they were interviewed and asked whether they were part of a migrant-smuggling operation.

''We're continuing this investigation to develop leads into smuggling,'' said Steve McDonald, assistant chief patrol agent with the Border Patrol.

The Cubans will be classified as illegal aliens, and then will be able to have their status changed, officials said.

Cubans who arrive in the United States get to stay under the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, which enables them to apply for a green card after more than a year in the country. If they are stopped at sea, they usually are returned to Cuba.

On April 7, 43 Haitians, a Cuban and a Jamaican came ashore in Hillsboro Beach. In most cases, Haitians who arrive in the country illegally are sent back.

Lawmaker cites Cuba in case for drilling

If Castro can drill near Florida's coast, why shouldn't the U.S., argues a congressman who wants to expand energy exploration.

By Lesley Clark. lclark@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Apr. 17, 2006

A Pennsylvania congressman who wants to drill for natural gas just 20 miles out from the nation's shoreline has found a most unusual model: Fidel Castro.

Rep. John Peterson, who is trying mightily to lift the presidential and congressional bans that protect much of the U.S. coastline from offshore drilling, is citing Cuba's fledgling energy-exploration program -- and its proximity to Florida's coastline -- as a reason the United States should explore its own coast for natural gas.

'It's astounding we're going to sit here and say, 'We're not going to produce,' and, meanwhile, our good friend Fidel Castro is going to suck it up under our noses,'' Peterson said in a phone interview, citing reports that show Cuba is moving aggressively to explore waters northeast and northwest of Havana, some parcels about 50 miles from Key West.

Cuba has signed agreements with companies in several countries, including Spain, Canada and China, to explore potential oil and gas fields offshore -- where industry analysts have suggested there are at least 1.6 billion barrels of crude-oil reserves. So far those exploration efforts have proven disappointing, but efforts continue.

HALFWAY TO KEY WEST

Under a 1977 treaty, Cuba's ''exclusive economic zone'' -- where it has free rein to extract resources -- extends about 50 miles from its own coast, halfway between Cuba and Key West, in the Florida Straits, said Kirby Jones, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, which promotes the expansion of trade with Cuba.

Peterson is aiming his argument directly at Florida's 27-member congressional delegation, which he singles out for blocking efforts to expand U.S. offshore energy exploration.

''Imagine what Castro is thinking as we spend our time quarreling over whether we should produce American energy 100, 150 or 250 miles from the Florida coast while he makes arrangements to set up shop hundreds of miles closer,'' Peterson wrote in a letter to The Miami Herald. "He must love that we've allowed emotion to win out over reason, facts to be dwarfed by fear and our nation's energy policy to be driven by unreasonable environmental concerns.''

'INSANITY'

But Peterson's gambit has made little headway with the Florida delegation, which opposes efforts to allow drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on the grounds that drilling could mar Florida's beaches and the state's tourism-dependent economy.

''That's all the more reason we need protection,'' Cuban-born Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, a Republican, said of Castro's energy exploration. "What it does, it redoubles my efforts to try to prevent it, not only from drilling here, but from Castro.

''The insanity of someone suggesting that in the state of Florida you should be drilling within 20 miles, that is crazy, that is just completely off the wall,'' Martinez said, suggesting that Peterson only bolsters the Florida delegation's call for a no-drill zone around the state.

'He fortifies our position from the standpoint of saying 'This is why we've got to have a permanent buffer around the state of Florida,' to keep these people from Pennsylvania from coming down here,'' Martinez said.

With energy costs soaring, Peterson's push represents at least the third serious bid to open up Florida waters to drilling: The Bush administration's Interior Department has proposed leasing more than two million acres of Florida waters in the Gulf of Mexico to energy companies and a Senate proposal would open up an even greater section of the Gulf.

Martinez and his Democratic counterpart, U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, are pushing legislation that would open up a smaller area in exchange for a 150-mile buffer and Nelson has threatened to block the Senate pro-drilling legislation, as well as the Senate's confirmation of Interior Secretary nominee Dirk Kempthorne.

Peterson, who argues that the United States has some of the highest natural-gas prices in the world, has filed legislation to lift the current moratorium on drilling off the Outer Continental Shelf and open it up to natural-gas exploration outside 20 miles.

''Twelve miles is out of sight,'' Peterson said of oil rigs, "so 20 miles is a cushion.''

Environmentalists are watching Peterson's bill warily, noting it has more than 150 co-sponsors from both parties, and Peterson has been granted a hearing by the chairman of the House Resources Committee.

UNITED

''The [Florida] delegation is united against it, as are most coastal states, but he has a promise it will be heard, so we're not taking it lightly,'' said Mark Ferrulo, director of the Florida Public Interest Research Group. "We're thinking it might only be a starting position for him.''

According to the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association, the island nation in 1999 began to seriously develop its own domestic-energy program, leasing exploration rights in its territorial waters to foreign companies because it does not have the technology to drill offshore.

'NO RELUCTANCE'

According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration, Cuba's mostly onshore oil production is on the rise: from 18,000 barrels a day in 1992 to 84,000 barrels currently.

U.S. companies are prevented from doing business with the island nation by the U.S. embargo against Cuba, though food and medicine is regularly sold, but Jones said Cuba has made it clear it has "no reluctance to sit down and talk with any U.S. company interested in exploring.''

And many are: Executives from U.S. giants including ExxonMobil Corp., Caterpillar and Valero Energy Corp., one of the largest refiners in the U.S., each paid close to $2,000 to attend a meeting in Mexico in February to learn more about Cuba's potentially lucrative reserves.

''As Florida has been debating a buffer for the last year, all of that could be moot,'' Jones said.

"In Cuban waters there may be oil platforms within 52 miles of Key West.''

Bay of Pigs veterans recall invasion

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Mon, Apr. 17, 2006

The torch lit in their honor flickered behind them. The names of the killed were read aloud. Sunglasses covered the tears on some faces as bad memories came flooding back.

For more than 100 veterans from the Bay of Pigs, Monday marked not only the 45th anniversary of the failed invasion, but a chance to see and embrace some of their fellow combatants from so long ago. They met at 10 a.m. in front of the Bay of Pigs memorial torch on Cuban Memorial Boulevard in Little Havana.

Felix Rodriguez, president of the Brigade 2506 veterans association led a group of former fighters in the reading of the names of fellow soldiers who died before, during and after the invasion, a solemn stretch of words that lasted 15 minutes.

''We're near the end of the tyrant,'' said Rodriguez, trying to address the palpable frustration in the crowd that Fidel Castro remains as Cuba's leader in a one-party state. "We want a free, independent, democratic Cuba. Not a succession from one group to another.''

One notable VIP in attendance was Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who expressed his admiration for Brigade 2506.

''These people didn't talk, they actually did something,'' Alvarez said. "But it hasn't changed. Every Cuban American wants to see a democratic form of government in Cuba.''

One April 17, 1961, about 1,500 Cuban exiles invaded the Bay of Pigs on the southern coast of Cuba. The invasion collapsed in the next three days, as Castro's army outnumbered the exiles, and President John F. Kennedy decided not to provide crucial air support.

More than 100 exiles were killed before, during and after the invasion, and almost 1,300 were taken prisoner. Most of the prisoners were released in a general amnesty the following year.

One Brigade 2506 veteran present at the ceremony was Miami-Dade Commissioner Javier Souto, who was part of an infiltration team that went ashore in Las Villas before the invasion to try to foment a counterrevolution.

Souto eluded capture by seeking asylum in the Brazilian embassy, he said.

''For me it's very difficult to accept that it's been 45 years since the Bay of Pigs, and almost 50 years since Castro has been in power,'' Oliva said, "but we go halfway around the world to Iraq to spread freedom and democracy when this tyrant remains 90 miles from our shores.''

Book on Cuba to stay, for now

After a spirited debate, the Miami-Dade School Board rejected a proposal to ban a controversial children's book about Cuba from school libraries.

By Matthew I. Pinzur, mpinzur@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Wed, Apr. 19, 2006

The Miami-Dade School Board Tuesday rejected a move to immediately remove a controversial children's book on Cuba from all school libraries, clearing the way for an appeals process to continue.

The bill failed in a 6-3 vote, with sponsor Frank Bolaños and board members Perla Tabares Hantman and Marta Pérez supporting an immediate ban of Vamos A Cuba (subtitled A Visit to Cuba).

LANDMARK RULING

''I am not willing to spend a quarter of a million dollars on money that should be spent in the classroom to litigate an issue that is well-established in the law of this country,'' board member Evelyn Greer said.

Moreover, board members were loath to cut off an appeals process that began Monday with a group of school staff and parents reviewing the book. The group is expected to make a recommendation late this week or early next.

Their decision can be appealed to a 17-member committee appointed by Superintendent Rudy Crew, and that ruling can be appealed to the School Board.

The 5-year-old book drew attention this month after a parent at Marjory Stoneman Douglas Elementary complained about its depiction of Cuba under Fidel Castro.

In one oft-cited passage, author Alta Schreier writes: ''The people of Cuba eat, work and study like you.''

''Nothing could be further from the truth,'' Bolaños wrote in his bill, citing food rations, proscribed employment and forced school chants about Castro's greatness.

VIOLATIONS

During Tuesday's debate, he said the book never should have been purchased in the first place because it violated district standards.

''It is full of biases, prejudices, distortions and stereotypes,'' he said.

Pérez compared Vamos A Cuba to ''pornography'' and ''books about devil worship,'' which she said no school library would stock.

A group of about 15 protesters demonstrated against the book outside the board headquarters. Numerous school librarians were among those who spoke against the bill during a passionate debate that flared for more than two hours.

''Freedom of speech is not freedom to lie,'' said Sergio Rioseco, who recalled his restrictive education in Cuba.

The most heated moment came after comments from controversial Cuban activist Eddie Levy, who supports dialogue with Castro and opposed removing the book from shelves.

''Say no to censorship, say no to repression,'' said Levy, whose speech was followed by angry boos.

Speakers were almost evenly split on the book, and many said removing the book was an action Castro himself would take.

''I am terrified of the suggestion of banning it from our schools to appease a segment of the community to which I happen to belong,'' said Omar Rodriguez-Hazan, a school media specialist who lived in Cuba until he was 10 and said he suffered its hardships. ''I fear we may become what we protest against -- a totalitarian government.''

''The smile on the faces of those children, I never had,'' Rodriguez said through a translator.

COULD BE BACK

The lengthy debate may only be a prelude. If the appeals continue, the matter could be before the board again in May or June. An identical process could occur at each of the 36 schools that own the book.

''Let the process take its place,'' board member Robert Ingram said. ''It will probably find its way back to us, anyway.''

Brigade veterans fear their sacrifice will be forgotten

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Apr. 15, 2006

Forty-five years ago, Nestor Pino opened the back door of the C-46 airplane zipping low over the Bay of Pigs. The fleet of U.S. ships lined up along Cuba's coast gave

him confidence. He had a single thought: "There's no way we can lose.''

Pino led the CIA-backed paratrooper assault for Brigade 2506 in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion, one of the biggest military debacles in U.S. history. Cuban troops captured almost 1,300 of the invaders, and 104 lost their lives before, during or after the attack. Cuba maintains the exiles killed about 150

of Fidel Castro's men, although various U.S. estimates place Cuba's casualties much higher.

Today, almost half of the 3,000-plus men from Brigade 2506 are dead. The ones who are left don't want their cause to be forgotten. They are hosting a reunion tonight at the Coconut Grove Expo Center, where they were reunited with their families in 1962 after Cuba freed them from prison. It is the largest reunion since the 1960s, said Brigade President Felix Rodriguez.

Bay of Pigs veterans, intent on leaving a legacy, also are raising money for a $10 million multimedia museum in Little Havana. The museum, with interactive displays, will explore the invasion in the context of the Cold War and follow Cuba's attempts to internationalize its communist revolution.

The attack by Cuban exiles and some Americans at the Bay of Pig's beach at Playa Giron -- to try to take back Cuba country from Fidel -- was a historic turning point with deep roots in Miami.

Because of the failure, Castro consolidated his power, the Cuban missile crisis terrified the world a few months later, and the Soviet Union kept a beachhead in the Americas to export Marxist guerrilla movements around the Western Hemisphere for decades.

''It just wasn't an appropriate place for a landing,'' said Pino, who now lives in Virginia.

During a Miami visit this week, he mulled over the reasons for the failure of the assault: "The original plan was to land in [the Cuban city of] Trinidad, where there was much better beaching and an airport. . . . Our forces got caught up on the coral reefs and had to carry all the supplies to land.''

President John F. Kennedy's handling of the invasion is also the root of Cuban Americans' inclination toward the Republican Party. Many Brigade 2506 survivors still blame Kennedy -- and the Democrats -- for failing to provide proper tactical support.

But as they age, Bay of Pigs veterans have learned to put the loss in perspective, if not shed some of the resentment they still harbor for Kennedy.

Felix Rodriguez, 64, was just 19 when the CIA trained him to infiltrate Cuba through Trinidad in advance of the invasion. Among his team members: future Miami-Dade County Commissioner Javier Souto. From Trinidad, Rodriguez went to Havana, where he was when the assault took place. When he realized the invasion had failed, he said, he sought asylum in the Venezuelan Embassy.

Rodriguez had wanted to be an architect. Instead, he stuck to a military and CIA career. He was among three Cubans working for the CIA who led the capture of Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara in the Bolivian jungle in 1967. Castro had sent Guevara, the charismatic Argentine and Cuban revolutionary leader, to Bolivia to recruit peasants for a populist revolt.

''It changed all of our lives, but I don't regret anything,'' Rodriguez said. "I've had an interesting life and feel happy with what I've done.''

Many of the veterans still consider themselves to be in a state of war with Cuba. Like Rodriguez, some joined the armed forces after the Bay of Pigs and formed close bonds with the U.S. government. Others stayed with the CIA, and eventually broke off in their own paramilitary groups to run anti-Castro raids against Cuba.

Three of the Brigade members are in the media spotlight in Miami, this time because they are in trouble with the U.S. government. Luis Posada Carriles, who never disembarked at the Bay of Pigs, is in federal custody in El Paso, Texas, after he sneaked into the United States last year; he is accused by Venezuela and Cuba of terrorist acts. Posada's benefactor, developer Santiago Alvarez, is now facing federal weapons charges, along with Osvaldo Mitat.

Along with other exiles, the three continued the violent struggle against Castro long after the Bay of Pigs. But many don't see that as a viable option today.

''I respect everyone who wants to fight to liberate Cuba, but I personally feel that the violent fight to free Cuba at this moment is not feasible,'' said Bay of Pigs veteran Eduardo Zayas-Bazán, professor emeritus at East Tennessee State University. "I don't see that the Cuban regime can be overthrown with an invasion.''

Zayas-Bazán, a CIA-trained frogman, was among the first five exiles who went on shore with Grayson Lynch, an American who later wrote one of the invasion's most definitive books.

For most of the Brigade veterans, violence no longer plays a role in their anti-Castro outlook. But that doesn't mean they've softened their position on his government.

Brigade 2506 member Esteban Bovo, whose son Esteban ''Steve'' Bovo is a Hialeah city commissioner, bristles when he thinks of anyone trying to have a dialogue with Castro.

''As long as Castro is in power, we remain in the same state of war,'' Bovo said.

Not all Brigade 2506 members feel the same way. Five years ago, a small group of Bay of Pigs veterans decided to break with the group to promote open dialogue with the Castro government. At least two of them, including Mario Cabello, were expelled from the veterans association for traveling to Havana to participate in a conference about the failed mission during the 40th anniversary.

Not a day goes by that Mattias Farias, a Spanish language radio commentator on WWFE 670 AM La Poderosa, doesn't think about the day his B-26 was shot down over the Bay of Pigs, killing his co-pilot and forcing him to crash-land near the beach's airstrip.

After the attack, Farias joined the U.S. armed forces and rose to the rank of colonel, learning in military college that the plan for the invasion had "28 major mistakes.''

''Would you like to hear a few of them?'' he asked. "You never disembark for an amphibious invasion at night. You do it between 5 and 7 a.m. You don't do it without anti-aircraft battery. Our tanks were tanks for reconnaissance, not combat.''

So many details could have been tweaked, so much more help given. And in the end, Castro's army crushed the invasion. Most of the exiles were captured, then released the following year in an amnesty and reunited with family in Miami's Dinner Key Auditorium, now the Coconut Grove Expo Center.

Felix Rodriguez, 64, was part of the infiltration team

Posted on Sat, Apr. 15, 2006.

Felix Rodriguez, 64, was part of the infiltration team that sneaked into Trinidad before the invasion to try to open up a second front. He was in Havana during the invasion, and sought asylum in the Venezuelan Embassy. A few years later, he led a CIA team that tracked down Ernesto ''Che'' Guevara in the Bolivian jungle. Today, he is the president of the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association.

Eduardo Zayas-Bazán, 70, fired the first shots at the Bay of Pigs as he sneaked ashore with five other men as part of an underwater demolition team. As the inflatable boat was nearing the beach, Cuban soldiers in a Jeep heard a noise and turned headlights toward the water. Grayson Lynch, an American who joined the Brigade, gave the order to fire, and they did, destroying the Jeep. ''In Girón, the first shots were ours when we went to take the beach.'' Zayas-Bazán is professor emeritus of languages at East Tennessee State University.

Mattias Farias, 66, piloted a B-26 that was shot down over the Bay of Pigs airfield and lost his co-pilot instantly. Badly wounded, he spent several hours unconscious on April 17, but awoke on the battlefield and helped defend the airfield until a plane landed to evacuate him and others. The next day, he led the final bombing run on the Bay of Pigs from an air base in Nicaragua.

Esteban Bovo, 68, co-pilot and navigator of a B-26 doing bombing runs. ''It never crossed my mind when we were doing bombing runs that we could lose. I was destroyed when I heard they lost. Completely destroyed. Wednesday morning, when we were called to the flight shack, it really touched me to see how many pilots were missing that we couldn't account for.'' Fourteen Cuban and American pilots were killed in the attack.

Vets plan home to cherish memory

Bay of Pigs veterans want to leave a Little Havana museum as a legacy -- with help from younger generations.

By Oscar Corral, ocorral@MiamiHerald.com. Posted on Sat, Apr. 15, 2006

The veterans from the Bay of Pigs invasion want to leave a legacy beyond the yellowed photographs that now span 45 years.

Their idea: create a $10 million, three-story, multimedia museum in Miami.

''Since we're getting old, a time will come in a few years when we won't be able to maintain the museum and the library like we do now,'' said Brigade 2506 President Felix Rodriguez, referring to the Brigade's current museum at 1821 SW Ninth St. "We're trying to get the younger generations, the children of Brigade members and others interested in Cuban history to help maintain that interest in the Brigade and in Cuba after we're gone.''

To make it happen, Brigade 2506 members have reached out to younger movers and shakers rising in Miami's elite. People like Univision Radio Vice President Jorge Plasencia, Florida FTAA President Jorge Arrizurieta and lawyer Nick Gutierrez.

This weekend, Brigade 2506 will commemorate the 45th anniversary of the Bay of Pigs. Rodriguez said they expect up to 1,200 people at Saturday's event, likely the largest reunion since the 1960s.

''We are using the 45th anniversary to launch the public awareness campaign for the new museum,'' said museum executive director Paul Crespo, a commentator on WQBA. 'This is the first time that second-generation Cuban Americans are getting together to honor their parents' generation by creating a Miami institution.''

Many of the children of Bay of Pigs veterans have been successful in business and would be able to lead the charge in fundraising. For example, the late Cuban exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa's son, Jorge Mas Santos, is chairman of MasTec and the Cuban American National Foundation.

Wachovia Vice President Maggy Beguiristain, who is a trustee for the new museum, said it's important to have a way for younger generations to remember what happened at the Bay of Pigs.

''It's our heritage,'' said Beguiristain, whose father, Alberto Beguiristain, was jailed in Cuba just before the Bay of Pigs for trying to aid the invasion from inside the island. "It tells a story that many people are not aware of, especially the younger generations, who have no clue of what happened back then.''

The current Bay of Pigs museum is in a run-down building in a residential area of Little Havana. The exhibits are limited to a few memorabilia under glass in display cases, some media clips and photographs hanging on the walls.

The new museum would feature video and audio clips of the days surrounding the invasion, Crespo said. Planners also want to be able to fit in a tank and a B-26 airplane, like the ones used in the invasion.

''I think it's important to remember that these men put their life on the line to liberate the place I was born,'' said Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Alvarez, who attended the kickoff ceremony for the museum fundraising in February and supports the idea of a new museum. "It is part of our history in this county.''

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