Published Tuesday, May 16, 2000, in the Miami Herald
'Cuba Affidavit' Should Be Suspended. County should wait for Supreme Court's ruling.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno, a reluctant recruit to Miami-Dade's culture wars, should set aside for now the county's ill-considered requirement that local arts and culture groups who seek county support pledge not to deal with any entity connected to the Cuban government.
The so-called Cuba affidavit containing that pledge is part of the county's controversial Cuba ordinance that denies county funding -- direct or indirect -- to any individual, group or business that engages financially with the Cuban government.
The arts groups, which include the Miami Light Project, GableStage, the Cuban Cultural Group and others, filed the class-action lawsuit now before Judge Moreno that challenges the ordinance as unconstitutional.
The groups have until the close of county business today to sign the affidavit in order to meet the deadline for funding requests under the ordinance. Judge Moreno would be wise to issue a temporary injunction barring the county from requiring the affidavit.
In doing so, he need not comment on the constitutionality of the ordinance, nor on the merits of the groups' claim. Such a ruling would merely acknowledge that the groups face forfeiting county support over an issue that may soon be overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The high court is considering a similar case against the state of Massachusetts, which has a law prohibiting state contracts from going to companies that do business in Myanmar (formerly Burma) because of that country's oppressive military regime. If the Supreme Court strikes down that law, the
Miami-Dade ordinance would likely also fall. The county refused to extend the deadline until after that ruling. Yet Judge Moreno can accomplish the same end with a narrowly-drawn decision suspending enforcement of the Cuba affidavit until then.
Meanwhile, the controversial ordinance continues to open new wounds. Representatives of several arts groups told Herald reporter Jordan Levin that they believe they were threatened with economic boycotts and other reprisals from the Cuban-American community if they work to overturn the
ordinance.
Any such threat -- real or perceived -- would be reprehensible. We believe with these arts groups that the best policy in undermining the Cuban government would be one that encouraged, not restricted, people-to-people exchanges in the arts and sports.
Others may disagree. But in a society that cherishes the right to free expression, any attempt to chill an open debate about the policy would be abhorrent.
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