'He felt the Cuban cause . . . in his own blood,' S. Floridians say of Rea

[Judi Lynn]

Posted on Thu, Jun. 10, 2004

SOUTH FLORIDA


'He felt the Cuban cause . . . in his own blood,' S. Floridians say of Reagan

People in South Florida gathered to remember Ronald Reagan, a president who bonded with Cuban Miami like no other

BY TERE FIGUERAS AND DANIEL de VISE

[e-mail]


As thousands filed past the coffin of Ronald Reagan in the nation's Capital, the former president was remembered at a Wednesday night Mass at Coconut Grove's Ermita de la Caridad church.

As evening's storms fell on the steps of the church, which has long been the spiritual center for Miami's Cuban exile community, the faithful filed in.

Among them: members of the Cuban American National Foundation, founded during the Reagan administration by late exile leader Jorge Mas Canosa.

''I think we consider him one of us,'' said Jorge Mas Santos, son of Mas Canosa and now chairman of the foundation, adding that his father considered Reagan a friend. ``We're here to pay tribute to a man who helped elevate the struggle for a free Cuba to the international stage.''
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/local/states/florida/counties/broward_county/8885163.htm?ERIGHTS=1130596103176978826miami&KRD_RM=3mkmlmmlnkjppmjjjjjjjjjsko|


Jorge Mas Canosa, friend of Ronald Reagan, is the "exile" directly under the clock.
Yep, that's Henry Kissinger in the photo.

[saracat]

1. So Reagan is the one

to blame for F***cking up the Cuban situation!

[Judi Lynn]

3. Jimmy Carter had lifted the travel ban to Cuba

and Ronald Reagan reinstated it.

From "The Cuba Embargo as Rip Off"
By SAUL LANDAU

Since President Reagan effectively privatized US Cuba policy in 1981 and handed it to his supporters in the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), the embargo has become a lynchpin of their domestic clout.

They discovered that by contributing to strategically placed Members' campaign coffers CANF and its affiliates could direct the voting behavior of Members of both Houses - and both Parties. The Castro-hating millionaires who run CANF have elevated the embargo and travel ban to the realm of the sacred. They repeat their "not one cent for the dictator" dogma despite the contradictions between their words and their own behavior.
(snip/..)

http://www.counterpunch.org/landau11012003.html

[I thought so.]

2. My world view at 15 was as Reagan's

I grew up. He never did. The Earth is so much more complicated than the us/them that he believed. I hope that we can move on to better things. I don't blame his supporters,he pandered to their self interests.
Politics is for politicians but all of America comes first Reagan never understood that.

[SoCalDem]

4. He "felt" the votes he got for his pandering

That's what he wanted..votes.. He probably could not pick Castro out of a line up.

[Vladimir]

5. With their own words they are condemned n/t

[Mika]

6. Check this LttE in the Miami Herald

Miami's Cuban-American community was never a single bloc.


Letters to the editor

Recalling Ronald Reagan's attributes, faults
http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/editorial/letters/8894516.htm

I am a Cuban American who grew up in Miami during the Reagan-Bush years. Miami, home of the Cuban-exile community, was during those years and still is strongly Republican. Reagan's administration wasn't at all friendly to the Cuban government, as is customary for Republicans.

After years of fighting a revolution from afar, certain parts of Miami's Cuban community felt a need for change. Bombs and commando tactics were not working, and open dialogue across the strait seemed to some a better chance of winning over the other side. It was during the Reagan and Bush years that prominent Cuban Americans -- mostly right wingers -- controlled the views of the two administrations and Congress, daring to say, ``We speak for the Cuban Americans.''

Well, they never spoke for me or anybody I knew. No one voted for them to regulate anything. They had the blessings of Reagan and Bush during their 16 years in power. Even though Reagan will be remembered as a good president, he left a bitter taste for Cubans who really wanted to do something constructive to change their nation of birth. I saw friends who worked at newspapers or radio stations (where the name of Castro is mentioned more times in one day than in Havana) lose jobs for speaking against that all-powerful Cuban ''government in exile'' directed by the Cuban American National Foundation and other organizations. Reagan will be remembered with mixed feelings by a lot of Cuban Americans who still dare not speak.