Cuban-American group focuses on Washington lobbying
By Madeline Bar- Diaz, Miami Bureau. Sun Sentinel, March 16 2007.
When the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee held its annual
luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables last year, the political
wattage in the room rivaled the grandeur of the historic landmark.
Then-Gov. Jeb Bush; incoming Gov. Charlie Crist; U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez,
R-Fla.; Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas;
and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, were among those at
the late-December gathering of the 4-year-old group.
Several of the politicians praised the PAC, whose quick ascent as a
lobbying arm of the pro-embargo segment of the Cuban-American community
has drawn comparisons to the Cuban American National Foundation, once
the sole voice of the exile community and now one of the many such groups.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, Washington director of the Hialeah-based PAC,
said his group's mission is strictly in Washington, D.C., speaking to
congressional representatives and candidates about Cuba's human rights
violations and its dissidents, as well as pressing the embargo. It does
not want to help lead South Florida's Cuban exile community, he said.
"Another Cuban organization was not needed. The void was in Washington
and that's the void we wanted to fill," Claver-Carone said. "The grand
overwhelming majority of organizations, of leaders in the Cuban-American
community, have really coalesced around it."
The PAC and its board include members of the foundation, as well as
other anti-Castro groups such as Mothers Against Repression.
Foundation spokesman Alfredo Mesa in Miami praised the PAC's work and
said while it shares the PAC's views on the embargo, "the foundation's
scope of advocacy is much broader ... the foundation is not a PAC. It is
an institution. We complement each other because both entities have
dynamic and effective leaders bringing attention to the plight of Cubans."
The PAC, which has contributed almost $900,000 to Democratic and
Republican congressional candidates, was formed after Congress
authorized U.S. food exports to Cuba and the business community started
pushing for more access to the Cuban market, Claver-Carone said. The PAC
has raised almost $1.5 million.
"The congressional debate on Cuba had turned to purely commerce," he
said. "The human factor was totally forgotten."
The clamor for more trade with Cuba gained strength after the 1997 death
of Jorge Mas Canosa, who had led the foundation from its inception in
1981 and was widely considered the leader of the Cuban exile community.
"I think there's no question that if you look at the timing, it was
horrible," Claver-Carone said. "I think it's not a coincidence. It's
unquestionable that Jorge Mas Canosa and the strength of his figure ...
brought a sense of unity."
After Mas Canosa's death, the foundation opened a Washington "embassy"
that they closed a few years later. In 2001, more than 20 members of the
foundation resigned, complaining its new leaders, including Mas Canosa's
son, Jorge Mas Santos, were making unilateral decisions.
Philip Peters, of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think
tank, said there is no comparison between the foundation of old and the
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.
"Back in the day, Jorge Mas Canosa was the undisputed leader of the
Cuban-American community," Peters said.
The PAC's mission of maintaining the 45-year-old embargo is crucial as
Cuba deals with a leadership transition, Claver-Carone said. In July,
the ailing Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother, Raul Castro.
Several Cuba watchers have said that when Fidel Castro dies, the
totalitarian government he established will remain in place under his
brother. That is why the PAC wants to keep the embargo, Claver-Carone
said, to force democratic changes.
"You [run] a marathon and we're in the last 50 yards of the marathon,"
he said. "You can't have leverage if you kind of trip and fall in
looking at the finish line."
Madeline Bar- Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y07/mar07/16e11.htm
By Madeline Bar- Diaz, Miami Bureau. Sun Sentinel, March 16 2007.
When the U.S.-Cuba Democracy Political Action Committee held its annual
luncheon at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables last year, the political
wattage in the room rivaled the grandeur of the historic landmark.
Then-Gov. Jeb Bush; incoming Gov. Charlie Crist; U.S. Sen. Mel Martinez,
R-Fla.; Republican presidential hopeful Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas;
and U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, were among those at
the late-December gathering of the 4-year-old group.
Several of the politicians praised the PAC, whose quick ascent as a
lobbying arm of the pro-embargo segment of the Cuban-American community
has drawn comparisons to the Cuban American National Foundation, once
the sole voice of the exile community and now one of the many such groups.
Mauricio Claver-Carone, Washington director of the Hialeah-based PAC,
said his group's mission is strictly in Washington, D.C., speaking to
congressional representatives and candidates about Cuba's human rights
violations and its dissidents, as well as pressing the embargo. It does
not want to help lead South Florida's Cuban exile community, he said.
"Another Cuban organization was not needed. The void was in Washington
and that's the void we wanted to fill," Claver-Carone said. "The grand
overwhelming majority of organizations, of leaders in the Cuban-American
community, have really coalesced around it."
The PAC and its board include members of the foundation, as well as
other anti-Castro groups such as Mothers Against Repression.
Foundation spokesman Alfredo Mesa in Miami praised the PAC's work and
said while it shares the PAC's views on the embargo, "the foundation's
scope of advocacy is much broader ... the foundation is not a PAC. It is
an institution. We complement each other because both entities have
dynamic and effective leaders bringing attention to the plight of Cubans."
The PAC, which has contributed almost $900,000 to Democratic and
Republican congressional candidates, was formed after Congress
authorized U.S. food exports to Cuba and the business community started
pushing for more access to the Cuban market, Claver-Carone said. The PAC
has raised almost $1.5 million.
"The congressional debate on Cuba had turned to purely commerce," he
said. "The human factor was totally forgotten."
The clamor for more trade with Cuba gained strength after the 1997 death
of Jorge Mas Canosa, who had led the foundation from its inception in
1981 and was widely considered the leader of the Cuban exile community.
"I think there's no question that if you look at the timing, it was
horrible," Claver-Carone said. "I think it's not a coincidence. It's
unquestionable that Jorge Mas Canosa and the strength of his figure ...
brought a sense of unity."
After Mas Canosa's death, the foundation opened a Washington "embassy"
that they closed a few years later. In 2001, more than 20 members of the
foundation resigned, complaining its new leaders, including Mas Canosa's
son, Jorge Mas Santos, were making unilateral decisions.
Philip Peters, of the Lexington Institute, an Arlington, Va.-based think
tank, said there is no comparison between the foundation of old and the
U.S.-Cuba Democracy PAC.
"Back in the day, Jorge Mas Canosa was the undisputed leader of the
Cuban-American community," Peters said.
The PAC's mission of maintaining the 45-year-old embargo is crucial as
Cuba deals with a leadership transition, Claver-Carone said. In July,
the ailing Fidel Castro ceded power to his brother, Raul Castro.
Several Cuba watchers have said that when Fidel Castro dies, the
totalitarian government he established will remain in place under his
brother. That is why the PAC wants to keep the embargo, Claver-Carone
said, to force democratic changes.
"You [run] a marathon and we're in the last 50 yards of the marathon,"
he said. "You can't have leverage if you kind of trip and fall in
looking at the finish line."
Madeline Bar- Diaz can be reached at mbaro@sun-sentinel.com or 305-810-5007.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y07/mar07/16e11.htm
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