Cuban judo team stirs exile protests

    Once again Miami was the scene of protests by Cuban exiles.

   Members of the group Vigilia Mambisa organized a snap demonstration Thursday in downtown Miami to protest the presence of the Cuban judo team whose members are taking part in an Olympic elimination round in the city.

   Miguel Saavedra, head of Vigilia Mambisa, told The Miami Herald before the rally that the demonstration was aimed at denouncing the presence of the team members in the heart of the Cuban exile capital, Miami. (Photo above shows Saavedra at an earlier demonstration).

   Cuban judo team members arrived in Miami from the island earlier this week to take part in the Pan American Judo Championships at the James L. Knight Center in downtown Miami, which began Thursday.

   Saavedra said Vigilia Mambisa mobilized members because it seemed an affront to the exile community that a team from the communist island was being allowed to participate in a tournament in Miami. An e-mail message from another exile group praised Vigilia Mambisa for organizing the protest against “Castroite athletes.’’

   Vigilia Mambisa, Mambisa Vigil in English, takes its name from Mambi, the term reserved for Cuban independence rebel fighters.

   The group has been in the forefront of organizing frequent anti-Castro demonstrations in Miami. They reserve their fiercest denunciations against anyone or anything that tends to erode what they perceive to be a hard-line against Cuba.

-- Alfonso Chardy

Comments

[Mambi Watch]

I heard about this on Radio Mambi around 3pm. On the radio show (Ninoska en Mambi) Megaphone Saavedra, leader of Vigilia Mambisa, calls in from the protest location in Downtown and explains the cause: Cuban athletes in Miami.

Saavedra, also known for throwing his prized megaphone at Bolivarian Youth protesters early last year, admitte4d that he had little information about the Judo competition. He wanted to know if City or County money was used, or how the whole thing was organized. He had no clue because no government official had returned his calls. That didn't stop him from protesting though.

And neither did it stop Ninoska Perez Castellon from being offended at the presence of the Cuban Judo team here in Miami. Perez Castellon, in typical fashion, described her outrage as if a Nazi Judo delegation were allowed to compete in Miami Beach. A similarly outraged caller described the offense as if a KKK Judo delegation were allowed to compete in Liberty City.

The USA Judo association sees it very differently. According to their CEO, Jose Rodriguez, the 2008 Pan-American Judo Championship "is turning out to be one of the most important judo events in this hemisphere as what is at stake is the right to compete at the 2008 Summer Olympic Games... the magnitude of the presence of the Cuban team within the Miami community opens doors that a few years ago would never have been imagined. These Championships will mark a new era of judo for both countries as less than two weeks prior to Cuba competing in Miami, our athletes will be competing in Havana at the Jose Ramon Rodriguez and Golden Judoguis Championships."

I say leave 'em alone Vigilia Mambisa.

[Brian Cousins]

If the US wants to host international olympic events then play by the rules. It is time for the US to respect the independence of Cuba regardless of the gangster crowd in Miami. Viva Cuba! Viva Cuba libre!

[Jerome Melgar]

As long as the U.S. didn't use any of our money to pay for their boarding and other essentials there's no problem by me (although I live in Cali).