By David Cázares Staff Writer. , Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 11:13 p.m. May 28, 2000
Every time Debbie Ohanian gazes at the latest Cuban performer to arrive at Starfish, the nightclub she owns in Miami Beach, she marvels at the possibilities.
Cuban jazz master Jesús "Chucho" Valdés, the powerful contemporary salsa group Bamboleo and Barbarito Torres, a lute player whose guajira style is the blues of the Cuban countryside, have all drawn such enthusiastic crowds that Ohanian longs for a chance to put them on
a larger stage -- in Miami.
"It would be fantastic," Ohanian said. "And the best thing is that it might open up the door to events like the Latin Grammys, which would be good for all of us."
But Ohanian knows first-hand that bringing the music of Cuba's musicians to a wider audience in Miami-Dade County is a daunting task. The mob of hostile demonstrators outside a concert by Cuban band Los Van Van in October proved that.
Moreover, in the aftermath of the Elián González crisis, many think that efforts to ease the resistance to Cuban performers in South Florida have suffered a serious setback. Since the April 22 raid that removed Elián from the home of his Miami relatives, Cuban-American
politicians and their supporters have shown no sign they are prepared to soften their stance.
So why did Ohanian, promoter Hugo Cancio and three cultural arts groups file a federal lawsuit last month to challenge a 1996 county ordinance that effectively banned Cuban artists from using county-owned facilities?
For leaders of the arts groups and their supporters, including the American Civil Liberties Union, there couldn't be a better time.
Law on their side?
"We've been working on this challenge for years," said John De Leon, president of the ACLU's Greater Miami chapter. "It's now, I believe, that cultural groups in this county felt comfortable."
Part of the comfort level stems from the belief that the arts groups have the law on their side.
The suit contends that the county's law, which prohibits it from granting money or the use of buildings to any group that does business with Cuba, violates constitutional clauses giving the federal government the sole authority over foreign affairs. It also claims that the law infringes on
First Amendment free-speech rights and 14th Amendment rights to equal protection.
U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno noted that the county is not required to subsidize the arts, but also said the county cannot refuse to consider a grant application by creating its own foreign policy. Moreno, who will hear the suit if it goes to trial, said it was likely the county's
requirement that arts groups sign an affidavit affirming they are not in violation of the law will be found unconstitutional.
But a case involving a similar issue could be ruled on by the U.S. Supreme Court even before the Miami-Dade case is heard.
The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals recently struck down a Massachusetts law which barred anyone doing business with the nation of Myanmar from bidding on state contracts. Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, has been accused of human rights abuses. The Supreme Court could rule on the
state's appeal of that decision next month.
"Miami-Dade cannot conduct its own foreign policy," De Leon said. "The United States government conducts the foreign policy of this country and not the Miami-Dade County Commission."
Such arguments haven't stopped Cuban-American politicians and others from circling the wagons though. Some have even criticized the lawsuit as an effort to attack a now pained Cuban-American community for taking a hard-line position on Fidel Castro.
County Commissioner Pedro Reboredo said the suit is "like putting in the knife and twisting it from side to side."
Reboredo and others say the county should have a right to prevent taxpayer money from supporting a "dictatorial regime." They argue that Cuban artists are funding the Cuban government with earnings from abroad.
That argument, however, belies the cultural exchange provisions of the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba. Those provisions allow Cuban artists to receive only a small per diem for expenses, plus lodging and transportation. Nevertheless, Cuban-American politicians oppose such exchanges, and they
argue that the nation's policy -- endorsed by such conservative Republicans as U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms of North Carolina -- is a one-way street. Cuban-American artists, such as Gloria Estefan and Willy Chirino, can't go to Cuba, Reboredo said.
Still, even those Cuban-Americans who oppose the performances admit that attitudes toward allowing Cuban performers are changing, at least when it comes to private venues.
"For the past two or three years, a number of Cuban performers have performed in Miami," said Aida Levitan, who runs an advertising agency. "The majority of people have been very tolerant of that. They haven't made any fuss about it. It's not like the Cuban community is being
intolerant."
The people who are being insensitive, Levitan said, are those who would bring a band like Los Van Van to a public venue in Miami. She said Cuban-Americans view the band as a representative of the Cuban government, which has been accused of violating human rights for four decades.
Very deep wounds
"If people cannot understand how we could feel hurt to see in Miami a group such as Los Van Van, they don't understand anything about Cuba or our community," Levitan said.
"There are very deep wounds that people have."
Other Cuban-Americans, such as Alvaro Fernández, vice chairman of the Miami Beach Arts Council, say allowing performers from the island would send a powerful message to Castro.
"It would demonstrate that we are a tolerant community, that we live in a country that does not censor," Fernández said. "That's the lesson we should be giving to the island, not trying to create the same system that they have there."
The members of the arts groups who filed suit are heartened by such support. They want Cuban-Americans to know that they are in no way supporting Castro, but rather freedom of expression.
"If you think those of us on this side of the issue, who have come down in support of this issue, don't understand that pain, you're wrong," said Joseph Adler, artistic director of GableStage, a theater company.
David Cázares can be reached at dcazares@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5012.
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