Lincoln Diaz-Balart takes on USA Today -- and Castro

Lincoln Diaz-Balart opines in today's USA Today, taking on the newspaper's editorial board which writes in favor of lifting the embargo on Cuba, given the damage caused by Hurricanes Ike and Gustav.

"Rather than stick to outdated political games, the United States should deprive the Cuban regime of its scapegoat and lift the embargo," the editorial says. "Castro's attempts to hold the United States responsible for his country's woes could then be exposed for what they are: an attempt to shift blame. And millions of Cubans can both be helped and start seeing a different truth from the Castro brothers' insistence that the U.S. is the author of all that goes wrong in Cuba."

Retorts Diaz-Balart: "The gravely ill Fidel Castro might have given up some titles, but he remains the tyrant. At the time of his death, it will be critical for the U.S. embargo to be in place as it is today, with its lifting being conditioned on three fundamental developments: the liberation of all political prisoners; the legalization of all political parties, labor unions and the press; and the scheduling of free elections.

"Those are the exact same conditions that brought about the democratic transitions in Portugal, in Spain, in South Africa, in Chile, in the Dominican Republic and in many other dictatorships," Diaz-Balart wrote. "This is not the time to give the Cuban dictatorship billions of dollars unilaterally, while Cuba's prisons remain full of political prisoners and the regime remains a state sponsor of international terrorism."

Cuban dissident meets with the president and First Lady

Omar Pernet Hernandez, a journalist arrested in Cuba in 2003, was among the political dissidents lunching Tuesday with President Bush and First Lady Laura Bush in New York.

Hernandez was among 75 dissidents arrested in the "Black Spring" crackdown of 2003. He was released in February 2008 and now lives in Spain. The White House says he continued to call for human rights and freedom while in prison and still suffers from serious medical problems due to mistreatment in prison.

"They inspire us," Bush said of the dissidents. "Here in America, we have an obligation to help others realize the blessings of liberty. They have been on the front lines of securing liberty."

Hurricane damage sparks Diaz-Balart-Martinez rift

Debate over how to help hurricane victims in Cuba has spilled over into the congressional races, with  campaign reps for Raul Martinez and Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, accusing each other of politicizing the humanitarian crisis.

Martinez, a Democrat challenging the GOP incumbent, advocates temporarily lifting restrictions on family travel and aid to Cuba because "when something like this strikes, everything needs to be put aside and people need to come first.''

But a spokesman for Diaz-Balart's campaign pointed out that an e-mail Martinez sent out calling attention to the devastation included a link at the bottom that said ''click here to contribute'' to Martinez's campaign.

Martinez called the link an ''accident'' that he immediately apologized for and that was immediately corrected.

''See how small these people think?'' said Martinez, who added his opponent has allowed ideology to trump the needs of his Cuban-American constituents.

Diaz-Balart emphasized that he and other supporters of the embargo believe mechanisms are already in place to help Cubans through organizations licensed by the U.S. government to provide aid.

''It certainly is our hope that international community puts the maximum amount of pressure on the regime to allow unlimited aid,'' he said.

Read more here.

Obama sides with Martinez in aid to Cuba

Barack Obama is seconding Raul Martinez's call to temporarily lift restrictions on travel to Cuba -- to help family members help victims of Hurricane Gustav.

Martinez cited news reports that suggest 100,000 houses, schools and workplaces were damaged by Hurricane Gustav, and at least 6,000 homes are considered beyond repair.

"We have a moral obligation to allow families to help each other in a time of dire need," said Martinez, who noted that under current Bush administration restrictions -- imposed before the 2004 election -- Cubans in the U.S. are limited to taking trips to Cuba once every 3 years and sending a max of $300 to family members every three months.

Obama sided with Martinez -- though he took pains to emphasize that he wasn't calling for lifting the embargo.

"This is a time when the Cuban people – not Castro – need and deserve American compassion and assistance," he said. "The Cuban American community stands ready to directly assist their family members in this time of need. A failed Bush administration policy, however, stands in the way of moral and necessary aid."

Martinez is challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, who supported the administration's restrictions and signaled in a press release that Gustav hasn't changed his mind. The subtitle on the release: "US law does not need to be changed in order to help the victims of the hurricane."

Court throws out Rivera's Cuba academic travel ban bill

U.S. District Court Judge Patricia Seitz has struck down Florida’s Travel Act, Miami Rep. David Rivera's bill to ban academic research in countries labeled as terrorist states including Cuba.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida filed the lawsuit in June 2006 challenging the ban enacted on behalf of Florida International University’s Faculty Senate and six professors at other Florida universities. The bill was passed by the 2006 legislature.

A lucky sign for Obama from South Florida?

Homemade signs are generally among the banned items at tightly orchestrated political conventions -- no off point messages, please. But a small band of self-proclaimed Cuban American Democrats managed to evade the sign police Thursday night at Barack Obama's speech and made their allegiance clear.

The four snuck in a sign reading, "Cuban American Democrats for Change," and waved it proudly. It caught the cameras several times and got up on the giant screens at Invesco Field at Mile High.

On the way to the event, "people were telling us, 'You know, they don't allow signs,' " said Arthur Costa, 49, of Miami. "But we figured we'd take a chance."

They saw several signs get confiscated, but walked out on the field with the goods.

"We just witnessed history tonight," Costa said as he rode the bus back to the Florida delegate's hotel. All four signed the sign for posterity. It'll go next to the sign Costa snuck into the convention in 2000.

Anti Diaz-Balart effort emerges

A new political committee aimed at trying to oust Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart is up and running with a web-based ad targeting the two Republican's voting records.

The One South Florida Media Fund, a 527 organization whose donors include key contributors to Democratic congressional candidate Joe Garcia, has a new website, www.onesouthflorida.org.

Tony Jimenez, a former Bush administration official and One South Florida's co-director says the 30-second video, "Out of Touch" details "just how out of step" the GOP'ers are "with average South Floridians.

"It seems that some of our elected leaders have forgotten that they were elected by South Floridians and not the special interest groups lining their coffers," Jimenez said. "It is appalling that while we are at the epicenter of a national foreclosure crisis, our elected leaders are more concerned about preventing a Vermont Little League team from playing in Cuba."

The group expects to roll out other components of its campaign in English and Spanish via TV, mail, radio and phone calls. He said the group has raised more than $150,000 from donors "concerned about the region's struggling middle class and our nation's misguided policy toward Cuba.

"Big Trouble in Little Havana"

Time Magazine becomes the latest national pub to take a look at the 3 congressional races in South Florida and it says the three Democrats have "have caught the GOP off guard."

Lincoln Diaz-Balart isn't having any of it. He dismisses the idea that Miami's Cuban-American voters are abandoning the GOP.

"We hear that from the so-called experts every two years," he tells the magazine. "Every other November, we deliver the same results."

Read the article here.

New 527 targets Diaz-Balarts?

Two big contributors to Democratic congressional candidate Joe Garcia are also contributors to a new independent political group that is likely aimed at taking on Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart.

The SFF Media Fund has raised $75,000 -- most of it contributions from Carlos Saladrigas, the chairman of the Cuba Study Group, a moderate exile organization, and CRC of South Florida, a corporation that lists as its president, Jorge Mas Santos, chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation, which has been at odds with the Diaz-Balarts over Cuba policy. Saladrigas and Mas already have contributed the maximum -- $4,600 -- to Garcia, who is challenging Mario Diaz-Balart for re-election.

Organizers for the group, which plans a formal rollout on Monday, say it'll focus on issues, with an emphasis on the incumbents' voting records. Such political organizations, more commonly known as 527's, can raise unlimited sums of cash and can advocate for or against candidates and issues, though they are prohibited from coordinating with the campaigns.

Martinez sets CNN straight: "I'd call that a really bad poll"

So, the CNN interviewer this morning asked Sen. Mel Martinez, if Cuban-Americans in Florida are so reliably Republican how do you explain a new Pew Hispanic Center poll suggesting they're overwhelmingly backing Democrat Barack Obama for president?

"I would attribute that to a really bad poll," Martinez replied, saying Cuban-Americans remained "very solid behind John McCain" and suggesting that the poll number may instead reflect the overall Hispanic population in Florida.

Martinez was on the right track. It wasn't necessarily a bad poll, but a bad interpretation. The Pew Hispanic poll, released last month, showed Hispanic voters nationwide preferring Obama to McCain by nearly 2 to 1. But it noted that the support for Obama or McCain among different groups of origin were not "statistically significant" because of the small sample sizes for non-Mexican respondents. According to Pew, those of Mexican origin represented 55 percent of the registered voter sample, Puerto Ricans represented 14 percent and Cubans represented just 5 percent.

Martinez on the small screen

Here's Mel Martinez on Comedy Central's The Daily Show, hawking his new biography. Among the highlights, he calls his brief tenure as national GOP party chief a "misguided adventure" and jokes that he decided "in the last few days" to vote for John McCain -- "the commander in chief business and all that." (He endorsed McCain in the January primary.)

The Cuba connection

Florida Dems today slammed John McCain for an adviser's ties to a French liquor giant that does biz in Cuba, saying that after an attempt to "deceitfully link" Barack Obama to Fidel Castro, the McCain campaign "has a responsibility to answer the serious questions that are now being raised about their own candidate's own direct ties to Cuba.

"While it's unlikely that John McCain's Low Road Express will give any straight answers, these new revelations are turning into serious political problems for his campaign," the Florida Democratic Party said in a release.

Republicans were quick to return fire, pointing out in an e-mail to the Herald that Obama's foreign policy adviser Greg Craig, an attorney who was already under fire from some exiles for representing Cuban rafter Elian Gonzalez's father in the bitter custody dispute, in 2004 and 2005 defended Canadian businessman, Stefan Brodie, who was convicted of violating the US embargo against Cuba.

Another baseball team gets the OK to go to Cuba

Looks like the Bush administration may again cross swords with Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart. The Associated Press is reporting that Alabama's baseball team has received permission to play in Cuba in December.

"Alabama coach Jim Wells tells The Tuscaloosa News that officials from the university's Alabama-Cuba Initiative originally approached him with the idea in 2003. It took awhile for the logistics to be arranged," the story says.

Wells said he expects to take his entire team on the trip. The tentative schedule calls for three games in mid-December.

The apparent trip comes as Diaz-Balart last month called in US Treasury and state department officials to express his displeasure over the granting of a Cuba travel visa to a New England Little League team. He says such trips run counter to U.S. policy, which is aimed at isolating the Cuban government.

Diaz-Balart sparks rebuke from Vermont's senior senator

The Bush Administration's decision to let a New England Little League team visit Cuba next week has irked Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart -- provoking a sharp rebuke from Vermont's senior senator who says the teens should be allowed to "play some baseball.''

Diaz-Balart, a Miami Republican, asked fellow lawmakers to a Capitol Hill meeting last month to discuss what he called the ''very troubling granting'' of a travel visa to the Twin State Peregrines, a 14-member group of 11- and 12-year-old players from Vermont and New Hampshire. The team, along with six chaperones, heads to Cuba Aug. 9 for a nine-day trip.

In a statement Friday, Diaz-Balart said such trips run counter to U.S. policy, which has sought to isolate and weaken the Cuban government. ''Sporting events may be interpreted as diplomatic gestures even when they are not meant to be,'' Diaz-Balart said. "And a sporting event is not an appropriate way to respond to the ongoing torture of political prisoners Yuselin Ferrera, Nelson Aguiar and many others.''

Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, fired back. ''He should pick on someone his own size,'' he said. 'If the president can go to China at taxpayers' expense, these kids ought to be able to go on a privately paid trip to Cuba to play some baseball."

Read more here. Leahy, it should be noted, is no garden-variety elder statesman. The lifelong Batman fan has a cameo in the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, where he's held at knifepoint by the Joker, played by the late Heath Ledger. (Here's Leahy, to the left)

Photo: Warner Brothers Pictures

When Fidel walked the streets of Miami

It happened -- a long time ago. The man who would become the ire of Cuban exiles and 10 U.S. presidents visited three different times -- holding court at a well known coral house in Little Havana, a Miami Beach hotel and a defunct Flagler Street theater.

His first visit was in 1948, when he came for his honeymoon. The next year, he came to hide. And in 1955, he stumped through the area as a revolutionary and found support among Miami exiles waiting out the ouster of Fulgencio Batista.

In retracing Castro's footsteps in 1940s and 1950s Miami, a portrait emerges of a southern tourist town with a relatively small number of Cubans who welcomed a man who would forever change the political landscape of their island nation and much of South Florida.

Read more here.

Radio and TV Marti blasted

Government investigators accuse the federal agency that oversees radio and television broadcasts to Cuba of awarding more than $1 million in contracts to two Miami news outlets without following regular contract-bid procedures.

In a report issued Tuesday, the Government Accountability Office said the International Broadcasting Bureau failed to follow federal contract-awarding regulations when it authorized no-bid deals totaling about $1.1 million for WAQI Radio Mambí 710 AM and TV Azteca.

The 30-page report is the first of a series of GAO reports on the operations of Radio and TV Martí, which beam commentary, entertainment and news to Cuba under the Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting.

Read more here.

Martinez: Just try and move that bill

Mel Martinez has placed a lock on any Senate spending bills that "include provisions to alter or weaken our nation's policies regarding Cuba."

The move comes as lawmakers who'd like to do business with Cuba seek again to relax the restrictions -- including allowing Cuban Americans to travel to the island once a year -- rather than every 3 as President Bush decreed in 2004.

Martinez's office has told Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell that the Florida Republican has "very serious concerns about a number of the provisions" and asks to be consulted before any agreements are made to bring the bills to the Senate floor.

Cuba travel restrictions under attack. Again.

Efforts are underway (again) to ease President Bush's election-year crackdown on travel to Cuba. A Senate panel Wednesday took up a provision to let Cuban Americans travel to the island once a year -- rather than every three as Bush decreed in 2004.

Mauricio Claver-Carone, a director of the US-Cuba Democracy PAC, said he doesn't expect the bid by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-North Dakota, to survive a floor vote -- if it gets to the floor. He said some had expected easing of restrictions when Democrats took over Congress, but that hasn't happened.

"What we were able to prove last year is that there exists a bipartisan coalition to defeat these measures and maintain the current restrictions," he said. "We've got no reason to believe anything has changed."

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez is among those looking to block the measure, spokesman Ken Lundberg said. He said the Republican, who was born in Cuba, is "working with colleagues in a bi-partisan manner" to remove the language from a spending bill.

The China-Cuba rumor that will not die

Vice President Dick Cheney's office says it isn't true. Mel Martinez even went to the Senate floor to blast its veracity. And columnist George Will said it isn't so.

But the claim that China is drilling some 60 miles off Florida's coastline won't die. In the latest incident, the Missouri Democratic Party has posted a YouTube clip of Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., telling his constituents that "China's within 40 miles of our coast right now, drilling for oil, taking it out of the ground."

The clip features Graves repeating the claim even after Cheney and Martinez discredited it, along with a guest appearance by Martinez, calling the reports "akin to urban legend."

A spokesman for Graves referred the blog, Talking Points Memo, to a 2006 New York Times story that is often cited as the source of the drilling claim. The story doesn't say China is drilling, but was hoping to drill in Cuba. China doesn't however, hold any offshore leases, Martinez and others say.

But that hasn't stopped Republican lawmakers from using the spectre of China to push for opening Florida shores to drilling.

Crist signs bill to tighten restrictions on Cuba travel

Ignoring the pleas of dozens of Cuban families and their travel agents, Gov. Charlie Crist signed a bill Monday that will impose tough new regulations and penalties on companies that arrange travel to Cuba.

The bill, sponsored by Miami Rep. David Rivera and Eustis Sen. Carey Baker, would increase the licensing fees and bond requirements of companies licensed by the U.S. State Department to provide travel services to Cuba and "any other terrorist nation."

Travel companies brought a busload of families to Tallahassee last week for a rally to urge the governor to veto the bill. They complained that the requirement to raise their annual registration fee from $300 to $2,500 a year, and the mandate that they post a bond of up to $300,000, will increase their costs and make it unaffordable for many financially strapped families with relatives in Cuba to pay for the trips.

''There is nothing in this bill that protects you as a consumer," said Tessie Aral of ABC Charters Travel in Miami, who organized the protest in the state capital. "It is basically a witchhunt from people who have their own political agenda." Her company flies 20,000 visitors to Cuba a year on flights that operate five days a week.

Rivera countered by alleging that the travel companies were acting in cooperation with the Cuban government, which could lower the price of travel by lowering its fees.

"If somebody has asked for political asylum in the United States, they have no business returning to the country which they were supposedly fleeing," he said.

 

Miami mayor withholds Obama endorsement

This update from Herald political writer Beth Reinhard, who is covering Barack Obama's speech inside the secure perimeter of Miami's Hotel Intercontinental:

In a noteworthy snub of presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama,  Miami Mayor Manny Diaz, said he would not offer his endorsement today.

Diaz, who endorsed Hilary Clinton in the primary, said he would make a decision "on my own timetable."

The mayor is in the spotlight this weekend as newly installed president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors and host of its conference, taking place this weekend at the Hotel Intercontinental. Obama was a featured speaker there this afternoon.

Diaz, however, said the purpose of the nonpartisan convention was to focus on urban problems.

Diaz also refused to say whether he shared the concerns of Cuban-exile protesters outside the hotel, who have condemened Obama as a terrorist. They have attacked him for having campaign advisors who helped return Elián Gonzalez to Cuba eight years ago. Diaz was a member of the legal team that fought to keep the boy with his Miami relatives.

"I dedicated six months of my life to that cause," Diaz said Friday. "I cringe every time I see the Cuban government use that boy for political purposes."

Poll boosts Miami congressional challengers?

There's a split between older and younger Cuban Americans on whether exiles should be allowed to travel more often to visit relatives on the communist island, according to a new poll commissioned by a group seeking better U.S.-Cuba relations.

The poll was conducted in three congressional districts, including the ones represented by Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart, who both favor the travel restrictions President Bush imposed in 2004.

And the issue has become central to their re-elections, with Democratic challengers Raul Martinez and Joe Garcia pushing to relax the restrictions.

Cheney: Oops! There is no drilling by China off the coast of Cuba

Vice President Dick Cheney's office has acknowledged that he erred when telling an audience this week that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba.

Citing columnist George Will, Cheney Wednesday told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that "oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida. We're not doing it. The Chinese are in cooperation with the Cuban government."

Florida Sen. Mel Martinez, an independent congressional report, industry experts and other observers say there is zero evidence that China is drilling in Cuban waters, and doesn't even hold a lease to drill offshore.

According to the Associated Press, Cheney's office has backtracked, issuing a statement that says "It is our understanding that, although Cuba has leased out exploration blocks 60 miles off the coast of southern Florida, which is closer than American firms are allowed to operate in that area, no Chinese firm is drilling there."

With both parties squabbling over what to do about rising gasoline prices, critics of offshore oil drilling said the Cuba-China rumor is being spread as a "scare tactic" to force Congress to lift a ban that prevents drilling along the Outer Continental Shelf.

Cheney: China is drilling in Cuba; Martinez: No, it isn't

Florida's Mel Martinez took to the Senate floor today to refute Republican assertions that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba.

"Reports to the contrary are simply false," Martinez said. "They are akin to urban legends. China drilling off the coast of Cuba only 60 miles from the Keys, that is not taking place..."

Republicans have pushed the "someone is drilling 60 miles off the Florida coast" for 2 years to back up efforts to open the coastline up to drilling. But experts familiar with the situation say there's no proof.

That's not stopping the story from making the rounds: speaking at the US Chamber of Commerce vice president Dick Cheney today quoted columnist George Will as saying "oil is being drilled right now 60 miles off the coast of Florida..."

McCain's new Miami radio ad: "No concessions to dictatorships"

John McCain is out with his first general election campaign ad in Spanish -- a 60-second radio spot airing in South Florida -- that seeks to contrast his stance on Cuba with Dem rival Barack Obama.

Titled "Cuba Prisoners," the spot features the voice of Robert Martin Perez, a 28-year Cuban political prisoner.

"John McCain knows that Raul Castro is like his brother, a man that does almost anything to stay in power, violating the fundamental rights of Cubans," Perez says in the ad. Without mentioning Obama by name, Perez says, "while some support a dialogue with Raul Castro, John McCain believes we should support the courageous men and women who continue to stand up for freedom in Cuba.

"...John McCain knows that freedom in Cuba won't be achieved with concessions to dictatorships," he says

Listen here.

Annette Taddeo wouldn't go as far as Obama on Cuba talks

Democrat Annette Taddeo, who is challenging Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen for re-election, says she might not go as far as Barack Obama would in engaging in direct diplomacy with the Cuban regime.

"I don’t necessarily agree with everything he had to say," Taddeo told radio host (and Obama supporter) Bernard Jennings on his Sunday call-in show. "I won’t go as far as he did. And I admire him for being forthright."

Taddeo, who said she was at Obama’s speech to the Cuban American National Foundation Friday when he said he would meet with Raul Castro, supports the trade embargo against Cuba and has campaigned on lifting the restrictions on family travel and remittances.

On Sunday, she also said that at least 80 percent of federal funds that support Cuban democracy should go directly to Cuba, following a CANF report that only 17 percent of those funds have reached dissidents on the island in the past 10 years.

"There needs to be accountability with this money," she said.

Dems ding the Diaz-Balarts, Lincoln hits Obama, CANF

National Democrats announced today they'll run Spanish language radio ads against Miami's three Cuban-American Republican members of Congress - the second time they've paid for ads in the districts once considered reliably Republican and not worth targeting.

Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, one of the targets, delivered today's Republican Party of Florida critique of Barack Obama, and said he's not worried about the ads.

"I expect multiple attacks from them, it's election season, in the next 5 months," he said.

Diaz-Balart says Obama displays "inexperience and naivete" in dealing with Latin America, citing his opposition to the Colombia free trade agreement and his suggestion that he'd be open to meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro, without preconditions.

"There are specific communities in Florida that are quite worried about (Obama's) positions and they really have to do with his inexperience and naivete," Diaz-Balart said. "Mr. Obama has a lot of explaining to do in the next months in Florida, to try to assure people that his inexperience and naivete are not as worrisome as they seem."

The call also morphed for a time into a critique of the Cuban American National Foundation, Obama's host Friday for a talk on Latin America.

Asked by a reporter about CANF's invitation to Obama, Diaz-Balart said the group had "long passed the ability to disappoint me. They are really irrelevant, non-existent. Basically they exist in people's Rolodexes, in the press's Rolodexes..."

CANF president Francisco "Pepe" Hernandez, who expects to host more than 900 people at the event tomorrow, said he was disappointed by Diaz-Balart's critique.

"It would be a better use of his time helping the community and advancing the interests of the community, rather than putting down an organization whose only interest is fighting Fidel Castro," Hernandez said.

UPDATE: President Bush: "Real change in Cuba requires political change"

President Bush marked Cuban Solidarity Day with a hardline call against Raul Castro, calling the Cuban leader's recent "so-called reforms....no more than a cruel joke perpetrated on a long-suffering people."

He said he would seek to change US regulations to allow Americans to send mobile phones to family members in Cuba.

"If Raul is serious about his so-called reforms, he will allow these phones to reach the Cuban people," Bush said.

He started with a shout-out to the Cabinet members and Florida's four Republican Cuban-American members of Congress who joined him in the East Room for the speech.

"Mel Martinez," Bush said acknowledging the Cuban-born US senator. "All things are possible in a free society."

Read the full remarks here. They don't appear to contain any references to John McCain and Barack Obama's sparring over whether its okay to talk to US enemies -- such as Raul Castro.

President Bush to weigh in on Cuba

A day after John McCain and Barack Obama sparred over their stances on Cuba, President Bush is scheduled today to deliver his own take on Cuba, marking Cuban Solidarity Day.

According to a senior administration official, Bush will deliver his remarks in the East Room, talking about the first annual "Day of Solidarity with the Cuban People" - which is being observed by other nations as well.

Bush is expected to talk about the "reforms" recently announced by Raul Castro and "challenge the regime to back them up with real changes that advance liberty in Cuba," the administration official said. He'll also call for the release of political prisoners.

Willy Chirino and his band will perform.

 

Bill Richardson: "Talk to the bad guys"

New Mexico Gov and former pres candidate Bill RIchardson is jumping to Barack Obama's defense, after John McCain ridiculed his suggestion that he'd be open to talking to Raul Castro.

"John McCain -- like George Bush -- is afraid to talk to bad guys," said Richardson, who once met with Castro and memorably wrote in his autobiography about the Cuban leader's supposed bad case of dandruff. "He feels safer pretending to talk tough by hiding from them...This is the Bush-McCain foreign policy that has failed all over the world, and it has failed to promote change in Cuba. I have successfully negotiated with Castro and many like him, and I know that Barack has the judgment and experience to nudge the Cubans toward a better future."

McCain: "The embargo must stay"

John McCain just pledged fidelty to the embargo against Cuba and delivered a jab to Barack Obama, whom he ridiculed for suggesting he'd talk to leaders like Cuba's Raul Castro.

"An unconditional meeting with Raul Castro, an unconditional meeting with Raul Castro," McCain said, repeating the line as the crowd at the Sheraton Miami Mart booed and whistled. "My administration will press the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor unions, and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections. The embargo must stay in place until these basic elements of democratic society are met."

He also pledged to give more "assistance and moral support" to dissidents, including a boost to Radio and TV Marti.

He also vows to prosecute Cuban officials "implicated in the murder of Americans" - a nod to a push by Cuban-American activists to indict those involved in the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shootdown.

He also criticized Obama - and Hillary Clinton - for opposing the Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

"The failure of the Congress to take up and approve this agreement is a reminder why 80 percent of Americans think we are on the wrong track," he said. "Congress can find time to pass a pork-filled farm bill, but it cannot stir itself to support a key ally and further American prosperity."

McCain: Let's go to video

John McCain seeks to back up his contention that Barack Obama has "shifted positions" on Cuba with this 2004 video clip:

McCain is to deliver a speech this morning in Miami, accusing Obama of once supporting lifting the economic embargo against Cuba. But Florida Democrats say McCain is the one who has changed his stance on Cuba.

Read their evidence here.Download cuba.pdf

Garcia defends controversial fundraiser

Under fire for inviting an anti-embargo congressman to a campaign fundraiser, Democrat Joe Garcia is looking to turn the tables, assailing Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart for accepting campaign contributions from companies with ties to the Cuban government.

At a news conference, Garcia defended his campaign's decision to invite New York Democrat Rep. Charles Rangel to an April 21 fundraiser. Critics see Rangel as an ally to Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez; Garcia says he's a powerful legislator who could help bring sorely-needed dollars to South Florida.

Diaz-Balart called the New York Democrat a "radical left wing extremist."

Read more here.

President Bush joins the fray, bashes Obama on Cuba

Just like John McCain and Hillary Clinton before him, President Bush is criticizing Barack Obama for having the audacity to suggest that he'd meet with new Cuban leader Raul Castro.

The remarks are among the first forays Bush has made into the race to succeed him and he seemed to relish the opportunity. Never mentioning Obama by name, he said it would a mistake to engage Castro without some evidence of change - like freeing political prisoners and scheduling elections.

"Sitting down at the table, having your picture taken with a tyrant such as Raúl Castro . . . lends the status of the office and the status of our country to him,'" Bush said at a White House press conference. "He gains a lot from it by saying, 'Look at me, I'm now recognized by the president of the United States.' "

Read more of Bush's remarks and Obama's contention that "the American people aren't looking for more of do-nothing Cuba policy" here.

Putting the White House in a bind

Cuban-American groups are demanding the US Justice Department indict Fidel Castro for the 1996 Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down, putting the Bush administration in a legal bind.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen has written to Attorney General Michael Mukasey arguing for an indictment and she and fellow Miami Republican Reps. Mario and Lincoln Diaz-Balart are sponsoring a House resolution that condemns the shoot-downs.

But legal experts doubt the Bush administration - which has long courted the Cuban-American vote - will issue an indictment because other countries might seize on the precedent to prosecute U.S. officials.

Read more here.

Clinton and McCain attack Obama on Castro (again)

Barack Obama's remarks that he'd talk to new Cuban leader Raul Castro continue to draw fire from Republican John McCain - and Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"We simply cannot legitimize rogue regimes or weaken American prestige by impulsively agreeing to presidential level talks that have no preconditions," Clinton said Monday in Washington. "It may sound good but it doesn't meet the real world test of foreign policy."

Both camps are using Obama's remarks to suggest that the Illinois senator lacks the gravitas and foreign policy experience to serve as president.

Obama accuses them of "supporting the status quo" and argues that US-Cuba policy "has failed to advance American interests or freedom for the Cuban people for 50 years."

Read more here

Raul gets the nod, Ros-Lehtinen declares it a "sham"

Raul Castro was elected Cuba's new president Sunday, capping the island's first change of leadership in 50 years with a perfectly managed and carefully orchestrated succession of power.

Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen calls the election a "sham" and said the "so-called" Parliment selecting the regime's "next dictator" was "selected through elections that were a total farce.

"Today's vote is once again a clear testment to the fear that the governing elite have of the ballot box," the Miami Republican said.

McCain and Obama trade barbs over Cuba, a preview of the fall campaign?

John McCain says Barack Obama's suggestion that he'd meet with Fidel Castro's successor is "dangerously naive,''and shows he's not ready for prime time.

Obama, who made the comment at a Thursday night debate with rival Hillary Clinton, rapidly returned fire, saying McCain means "four more years of the same Bush-McCain policies that have failed U.S. interests and the Cuban people for the last 50 years.''

Though neither man has wrapped up his party's nomination, the volleys over Cuba policy provide a glimpse into what is shaping up to be their lines of attack: McCain will present himself as an experienced, steady hand and criticize Obama's lack of foreign policy experience; Obama, if the Democratic nominee, will present himself as a fresh start and McCain as a return to the Bush years.

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Obama rebuts McCain: He's offering only more of the same

Barack Obama is firing back at John McCain who criticized his remarks in last night's debate that he'd consider talking to Raul Castro.

In remarks sure to stir exile groups, Obama says McCain, "would give us four more years of the same Bush-McCain policies that have failed U.S. interests and the Cuban people for the last fifty years."

McCain earlier today called Obama's remarks "dangerously naive."

But Obama didn't retreat, saying he'd call for an "immediate change in policy" to allow for unlimited family travel and remittances to the island.

"In November, the American people will have a clear choice: a new direction versus more war in Iraq, more not talking to leaders we don't like and more of a Cuba policy that has failed to achieve freedom for the Cuban people.

"I am confident that the American people will choose the promise of the future over the failed policies and predictable political attacks of the past."

McCain: Obama's approach to Castro is "dangerously naive"

John McCain is taking a swipe at Barack Obama's foreign relations credentials, calling Obama's suggestion at a Democratic debate last night that he'd meet with Raul Castro "dangerously naive" - and perhaps more suited to a state Legislature (Obama was a state senator in Illinois before his 2004 election to the US Senate.)

"Not so long ago, Sen. Obama favored complete normalization of relations with Fidel Castro's Cuba," McCain said in a press release. "Last night, he said that as president he'd meet with the imprisoned island's new leader 'without preconditions.' So Raul Castro gets an audience with an American president, and all the prestige such a meeting confers, without having to release political prisoners, allow free media, political parties, and labor unions, or schedule internationally monitored free elections.

"Instead, Senator Obama says he would meet Cuba's dictator without any such steps in the hope that talk will make things better for Cuba's oppressed people," McCain said. "Meet, talk, and hope may be a sound approach in a state legislature, but it is dangerously naive in international diplomacy where the oppressed look to America for hope and adversaries wish us ill."

Republicans fire first shot at Miami Dems

The Republican Party of Florida is launching its first communal broadside at the three Democrats challenging Miami's three Cuban-American members of Congress, asking if the Dems will side with the Democratic prez contenders who at last night's debate suggested they were open to talking to Raul Castro. (Though Hillary Clinton was more cautious, saying she wouldn't meet without "evidence that change was happening.")

"Do fellow Democrats Joe Garcia, Raul Martinez and Annette Taddeo, who are running against Florida Congressmen Mario Diaz-Balart, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen respectively, agree with their Democratic presidential nominees that it is acceptable to meet with the future leader of Cuba even if he is a member of the oppressive and cruel Castro family?" the party asks in a press release. "Would these Democrat candidates ease travel restrictions even if it had an adverse affect on our nation's Cuba policy, weakening our solidarity for fundamental change in Cuba?"

The three Democrats have said they oppose ending the economic embargo against Cuba but do favor easing a travel ban to Cuba, arguing that the restrictions - tightened during President Bush's 2004 reelection campaign - are tough on families in the U.S. and in Cuba and distance the U.S. from dissidents on the island.

Rangel v. Diaz-Balart, live on CNN

Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., is debating Cuba policy with Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, who is standing in front of Versailles.

"I really hope we relax the travel provisions, let medicine prevail, let our young people go there and meet with the Cubans, that's the best way to sell democracy," Rangel says.

But Diaz-Balart says both Castro brothers have been part of the dictatorship and no sanctions should go away until there are free elections and no political prisoners.

"Which one of those freedoms don't the Cuban people deserve,'' Diaz-Balart said. "(The sanctions) are the leverage we have, the leverage we need."

Libertarian Party: As Castro fades, so should embargo

Add the Libertarian Party of the United States to the critics of the embargo against Cuba.

"There have been 2 victims of the 45-year-old embargo on Cuba and neither are the Cuban government," says William Redpath, national chair of the party. He says the current US policy "hurts American businesses by denying them access to the Cuban market, which in turn hurts the Cuban people by denying them the benefits of trade with the United States."

Democratic critics: More travel to Cuba would help

The three Democrats looking to challenge Florida's three Republican Cuban-American members of Congress suggest the Cuba travel restrictions that the GOP'ers favor have only marginalized the U.S. when it comes to dealing with the island nation.

"It's a perfect example of where the United States could have made a tremendous difference if we'd had personal visits to Cuba, we would know more and would be participating," said Cuban-American former Hialeah mayor Raul Martinez, who is challenging Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart for re-election.

Joe Garcia, the former Cuban American National Foundation director who is challenging Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart and joined Martinez on a conference call with reporters, said he too would welcome the resumption of family travel to Cuba, but said it's unlikely under the Bush administration which, he said is beholden to the "absurd ultra-right wing views of the sitting Congressmen."

Also running: Annette Taddeo, a Colombian-born businesswoman who is challenging Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Ros-Lehtinen today said she's asking the federal government to indict Fidel Castro in the 1996 downing of two Brothers to the Rescue planes. (See posting below)

President Bush cracked down on family travel to Cuba in 2004, a move backed by the Diaz-Balarts and Ros-Lehtinen.

Rubio: Fidel is the "crazy uncle"

In Tallahassee, House Speaker Marco Rubio, the first Cuban-American to be elected Florida House Speaker, compared Castro to a "crazy uncle" and brushed off the news that he won't seek re-election as nothing but "40-plus years of smoke and mirrors.

"I hear their budget is a mess by the way, worse than ours," quipped Rubio. "It's a joke. This is a complete joke...He has nothing to resign because he's a dictator.

"All of his letters just indicate how increasingly senile and out of touch he is with reality," Rubio said. "These are the rantings of a senile man. Fidel Castro has basically become the crazy uncle.

"Fidel is a dictator, his brother is a dictator, but somehow they're trying to create a sense of legitimacy to their power," Rubio said. "He can call himself whatever he wants but he was never elected, he's a tyrant and a dictator in the classic sense. He's resigning a position that doesn't exist, trying to give formality and credibility to a process that doesn't exist.

"The only news out of Cuba that would matter is that Raul Castro is gone, that Fidel Castro is gone, that political prisoners will be freed, that there will be freedom of the press," Rubio said. "That's the only news out of Cuba that would mean anything. Everything else is sugar coating and window dressing."

- Laura Figueroa

Bob Menendez: Castro's announcement "not the cause for celebration that some would believe"

New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez, a familiar face in Miami's Cuban-American community, says today's news out of Havana is "not the cause for celebration that some would believe.

"This does not represent the replacement of totalitarianism with democracy – instead, it is the replacement of one dictator with another," the Democrat said. "In essence, today’s action makes official what has been in place for a while now, with Raul continuing to lead the same iron-fisted regime that his brother brought to power almost 50 years ago. Just because the dictator is now named Raul instead of Fidel, it doesn’t mean that the regime’s repressive rule will automatically change."

But Menendez, born in the US to parents who immigrated from Cuba, says the move "does perhaps present a moment of hope. Raul does not have the same relationship with the Cuban people as Fidel, and now is the time to challenge him. Cubans who have been clamoring for change may see this as the opportunity to peacefully protest and make their aspirations known.

"The recent activism of Cuban youth wearing white 'Cambio' bracelets is a reflection of that desire for change," said Menendez, who months ago joined with Florida Sen. Mel Martinez in flashing a Cambio bracelet on the Senate floor. "Here in the United States, it is a time to further nurture the human rights activists, political dissidents and independent-minded journalists inside of Cuba who have the capability to stoke the movement toward freedom.”

Ros-Lehtinen: "It does not matter who the thug of the moment will be"

Miami Republican Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is calling for Fidel Castro's indictment in the 1996 shootdown of the Brothers to the Rescue planes. And she's not much impressed with his saying he won;t run for re-election.

"It matters nothing at all whether Fidel, Raul or any other thug is named head of anything in Cuba," she said. "What the people want is freedom to express their dissent from the oppressive regime. The community machinery is enslaving them so it does not matter who the thug of the moment will be.

"The focus of international attention today is on the facade orchestrated by Fidel Castro, the Cuban Communist Party and the regime's elite, with little if any emphasis being placed on the crimes committed by the dictatorship against the Cuban people and US citizens."

She noted the 12th anniversary of the 1996 shootdown is approaching: "another action by the Cuban regime that clearly and unequivocally illustrates the callous nature of the Castro brothers." Four men were killed when two Brothers to the Rescue planes were shot down over international waters.

And she called for the US government to seek to indict Castro in the deaths, suggesting that now that Castro "has formally stepped down as head of state, it clears the path for immediate legal action to be taken by the US government."

          

Bill Nelson: The time has come for the Cuban people to demand the regime be dismantled

Sen. Bill Nelson says "the time has come for the Cuban people who long have hungered for a better life than they’ve known under Castro to demand that his repressive regime be dismantled.

"The time has come for a peaceful transition to democracy and political and intellectual freedom in Cuba," says Nelson, who his office notes is the only senator to serve on the Foreign Relations, Armed Services and Intelligence committees at the same time.

The Diaz-Balarts: "Nothing has changed"

Ardent Castro foes Reps. Lincoln and Mario Diaz-Balart say Castro's decision not to seek reelection doesn't mean he's not still in control.

"In totalitarian Cuba, Fidel Castro’s absolute power is not based on titles," Lincoln Diaz-Balart said. "The dictator’s written declarations have the effect of totalitarian decrees, whether signed with the title 'Commander in Chief' or 'Comrade,' or simply with his name.

"What we all need to be concentrating on is the urgent need for a democratic transition in Cuba, beginning with the liberation of all political prisoners, the legalization of all political parties, labor unions and the press, and the scheduling of free, multiparty elections," the Miami Republican said.

His brother, Mario, agreed.

"He is the regime," Mario Diaz-Balart said of Fidel Castro. "This is a one-person regime. He can call himself whatever he wants but he is still the source of power and fear. In a totalitarian regime we should never confuse titles with power."

Crist: No end yet to the Castro regime

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist says he joins "Cubans on both sides of the Florida Straits in recognizing the official resignation of Fidel Castro as President of Cuba.

" Americans – and Floridians especially – continue to stand in solidarity with the Cuban people as they remain under the oppression of the Castro regime," Crist said. "Regrettably, this dictatorship continues through the succession of power to Raul Castro, and as Floridians, we must continue to call for free and democratic elections in Cuba, freedom for all political prisoners and respect for all human rights as detailed in the Geneva Conventions.”

Republican Party of Florida chair Jim Greer sees a "faint light at end of the tunnel" with Castro's resignation.

"However, with his brother Raul remaining in power, the oppression and lack of respect for human rights continues in Cuba," Greer said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with the Cuban people, and the many Floridians with family and friends still living under the rule of the Castro family regime. We look forward to the end of this horrendous dictatorship, and the day when the Cuban people see Democratic elections and know the freedoms we as Americans are privileged to enjoy each and every day.”

McCain: "Freedom for the Cuban people is not yet at hand"

Prez contender John McCain, whom Mel Martinez says would be Castro's "worst nightmare," calls Castro's resignation "nearly half a century overdue. For decades, Castro oversaw an apparatus of repression that denied liberty to the people who suffered under his dictatorship.

"Yet freedom for the Cuban people is not yet at hand, and the Castro brothers clearly intend to maintain their grip on power. That is why we must press the Cuban regime to release all political prisoners unconditionally, to legalize all political parties, labor unions and free media, and to schedule internationally monitored elections.

"Cuba's transition to democracy is inevitable; it is a matter of when – not if. With the resignation of Fidel Castro, the Cuban people have an opportunity to move forward and continue pushing for the moment that they will truly be free. America can and should help hasten the sparking of freedom in Cuba. The Cuban people have waited long enough."

Mel Martinez on Fidel Castro: "One down, one to go"

Interviewed on CNN just now, Florida Sen. Mel Martinez says Fidel Castro's decision to bow out means a "good day for the Cuban people" who will no longer be ruled by the dictator.

But he says Raul Castro isn't much of an improvement over his brother. "Cuba continues to be ruled by a dictator. We have one down, maybe one to go," he said.

"If we saw some differences, some change, but there's been no hope that Raul Castro, who has been his older brother's enforcer, will be the kind of agent of change Cuba needs today," he said.

"We'll see hopefully in the future, a new set of leaders who will come with new ideas," he said.

He also got in a plug for prez contender John McCain, whom he endorsed and called Castro's "worst nightmare.

"My hope would be a consistent policy on Cuba," he said. "Insisting that the Cuban government treat people with decency."

He noted the US "doesn't feed, frankly, to coddle dictators.

"Today is not the ultimate day of change, but the beginning of a process that will lead to real change," he said.

Martinez, who came to the US from Cuba as a 15-year-old, noted the irony of Castro posting his intent to step down on the Internet - which most Cubans are not allowed to access.

And he said the question for the US now will be "how do we move forward so the Cuban people can have an opportunity for a better day, for democracy."

Rubio helps honor signer of 1940 constitution

House Speaker Marco Rubio, U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Miami-Dade Commissioners Rebeca Sosa and Javier Souto this morning officially honored Emilio "Millo" Ochoa, the last surviving signer of Cuba's constitution of 1940. To read more, go here.

Bush worries about mass Cuban exodus

        As the death-watch continues for Cuban President Fidel Castro, Gov. Jeb Bush said Tuesday that the state's focus is to prepare for a potential mass exodus if Castro dies and the regime falls.

       Bush said he is working with the federal government and the U.S. Coast Guard to activate a plan created four years ago by the Department of Homeland Security to stave off a mass migration from the island.

     The governor would not elaborate on the details of the plan, but noted if Cubans were to attempt a mass migration to Florida it "creates the loss of life and creates a tremendous hardship for local communities and for our state.''

     "The best solution for mass migration is to have a free Cuba to have people have hope there,'' Bush said. "So long as Castro's in power, that's difficult to imagine -- if not impossible to imagine.''

     Bush is ready to move slowly on other contingencies as well. He said that if Castro dies, the U.S. should not lift the trade embargo against the island nation until it "allows the same basic freedoms that all in our hemisphere have: the right to move, the right to organize if they want to in a labor union, the right to dissent, the right to pray to their creator.''

    The governor is also not ready to speculate on what the U.S. military role should be if chaos were to break out in a post-Castro Cuba: "That's a tremendous hypothetical,'' Bush said, with a long pause. "I'm not going to comment on that. What I will say is the circumstances have not been defined yet. The United States potentially has a role to play in a post-Castro Cuba but that's not been defined yet. It probably would be best to wait and see what the conditions are on the ground and what's happening with Castro's health.''