POLITICS
Emilio and Gloria Estefan to host President Obama
Gloria and Emilio Estefan will host President Barack Obama on his
upcoming trip to Florida. The president will also visit the Space Coast.
BY LESLEY CLARK
lclark@MiamiHerald.com
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama conveyed his harshest rebuke yet of
Havana's government last week and, hours later, Gloria Estefan protested
repression in Havana from the streets of Miami.
Now, they'll be together again when the Cuban-born singer and her
husband, Emilio, host Obama at their Miami Beach home April 15 for a
Democratic National Committee fundraiser, when the president comes to
Florida to talk about cuts to the NASA space program.
The $30,400-a-couple cocktail reception is the Estefans' first political
fundraiser, said Democratic consultant Freddy Balsera, who advised
Obama's campaign on Hispanic issues and is close to the couple. The
Estefans -- who were traveling and unavailable Thursday for comment --
orchestrated a massive march through Miami's Little Havana in support of
Cuba's Damas de Blanco, or Ladies in White, peaceful dissidents who were
attacked by government security forces in Havana.
``They're both at a place in their lives where they believe giving back
is important and patriotism is important,'' Balsera said. Obama will
also attend a fundraiser at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing
Arts in downtown Miami that same day. Tickets for that event start at
$250 and $1,250.
Though they've kept a low political profile, the Estefans are no
strangers to the White House. Gloria performed at the inaugural
festivities for President George W. Bush in 2005, following Bush's 2002
appointment of Emilio to the President's Committee on the Arts and
Humanities and the President's Advisory Committee on the Arts.
Emilio met with Obama at the White House last May, according to the
Washington Times, which reported at the time that Emilio hoped to have
Obama over for dinner to talk about U.S.-Cuba relations.
``We just want freedom,'' he told the newspaper.
In September, Obama appointed Emilio to a commission to study the
feasibility of a National Museum of the American Latino, and Gloria
Estefan -- along with Marc Anthony, Jose Feliciano and others --
performed at the White House in October as it celebrated Hispanic music.
The president quoted Gloria in his welcoming remarks, noting that in her
words, ``the most beautiful things in this country have the flavor of
other places.''
Gloria also scored a pre-Christmas interview with Obama for Univision.
The pair chatted about Santa and reindeer, with Estefan prompting Obama
to deliver a holiday message in what he jokingly called his ``flawless''
Spanish.
Obama's reception in Florida may not be entirely celebratory. He's
convened a conference on the Space Coast that day to defend his plans to
cancel a NASA space exploration program -- a decision that has prompted
howls of protest from Florida's congressional delegation.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/04/01/1559519/star-power-estefans-to-host-obama.html
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