Cuban dissident stars in Joe Garcia's latest ad

@PatriciaMazzei

U.S. Rep. Joe Garcia of Miami has campaigned for another congressional term by focusing on bread-and-butter Democratic issues -- Medicare, Social Security, student loans -- and generally avoiding the topic of Cuba.

Yet the star of his latest political advertisement on Spanish-language television is a Cuban dissident.

Guillermo Fariñas staged more than 20 hunger strikes on the Communist island to force the release of political prisoners. He won the European Parliament's Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Conscience in 2010 and has advocated for tough U.S. sanctions on Cuba until the island's Communist regime moves toward democracy.

"For decades, Joe Garcia has been a compatriot committed to our fight," Fariñas says in the ad, shot in front of downtown Miami's Freedom Tower.

His appearance prompted a rebuke not only from Garcia's Republican opponent, Carlos Curbelo, but also by other Miami Cuban Americans who questioned whether Fariñas -- who is back in Cuba after a recent Miami visit -- knew he'd be used in a U.S. political campaign. It appears to be the first time a Cuban dissident appears in a U.S. campaign ad.

 

"Joe Garcia's use of a Cuban dissident who cannot vote in the United States for personal political gain is disrespectful to Cuba's internal opposition and insulting to South Florida voters," Curbelo said in a statement Tuesday.

"This election is about the United States and about our community -- not about another country. Garcia's use of a foreign national in his ads is unacceptable and a new low point in his sick obsession with getting elected to public office."

Garcia's campaign announced Fariñas' support with a news release and press conference Monday. Fariñas never actually says in the ad that he backs the Democrat's congressional reelection bid, but the spot nevertheless acts like a political endorsement from a figure many Cuban Americans consider a hero.

"The future will be decided inside Cuba, with fighters like Guillermo Fariñas," Garcia says in the 30-second piece, which begins with footage shot in Cuba of dissident protests and Fariñas being detained. "Today, more than ever, we must be by his side -- with more technology, more resources, and with our presence."

Garcia, a freshman whose 26th congressional district spans Westchester to Key West, supports increased travel and remittances to Cuba. Curbelo, a Miami-Dade County school board member, does not. Garcia likes to highlight that difference because traveling to the island is popular among younger Cuban-American voters. Curbelo prefers to note that he supports tightening the Cuban Adjustment Act while Garcia does not, a position more popular, at least anecdotally, among older Cuban Americans who more reliably go to the polls in midterm elections.

Activist Gus Garcia, no relation, a Democrat who has not endorsed anyone in the congressional race, said Tuesday that he found the ad to be "inappropriate." He blamed the congressman's campaign for putting Fariñas in a difficult position, since the civil and human-rights activist will likely have to work with whoever is elected.

"The struggle for civil and human rights in Cuba should be above American politics," he said. "To bring it into American politics is not in good taste."

With a week until Election Day, the ad comes too late in the campaign cycle to have much of an effect on voters, Garcia added, though he said other activists have called it a "desperate action" by the congressman to appeal to Cuban Americans who may be backing Curbelo in larger numbers.

"We criticize people for using the Cuban flag for political grandstanding," he said. "We should criticize this too."

At Monday's news conference, Rep. Garcia characterized Fariñas' involvement in his campaign as an expression of gratitude for his work even before he was elected in 2012.

"It's a statement of my years of service on this topic," he said. "What he talks about is the support that we've given civil society in Cuba."

Garcia once served as the executive director of the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation, founded by the late Jorge Mas Canosa. CANF founders later created the nonprofit Foundation for HUman Rights in Cuba, which supports Fariñas and other dissidents.

Republicans have criticized the U.S. government for giving public grants to nonprofit despite its scant experience, accusing President Barack Obama's administration of political favoritism toward the organization because Mas Canosa's heirs have backed the Democratic president. They also brought Fariñas and another dissident to meet Obama at a Pinecrest fundraiser last year.

"In this campaign there have been a lot of allegations by people about ridiculous things," Garcia said Monday. "When the leading human-rights advocate in Cuba steps up and sort of says something about your years of service on this issue, I think it makes a tremendous difference."

"Joe Garcia's use of a Cuban dissident who cannot vote in the United States for personal political gain is disrespectful to Cuba's internal opposition and insulting to South Florida voters," Curbelo said in a statement Tuesday.

"This election is about the United States and about our community -- not about another country. Garcia's use of a foreign national in his ads is unacceptable and a new low point in his sick obsession with getting elected to public office."

Garcia's campaign announced Fariñas' support with a news release and press conference Monday. Fariñas never actually says in the ad that he backs the Democrat's congressional reelection bid, but the spot nevertheless acts like a political endorsement from a figure many Cuban Americans consider a hero.

"The future will be decided inside Cuba, with fighters like Guillermo Fariñas," Garcia says in the 30-second piece, which begins with footage shot in Cuba of dissident protests and Fariñas being detained. "Today, more than ever, we must be by his side -- with more technology, more resources, and with our presence."

Garcia, a freshman whose 26th congressional district spans Westchester to Key West, supports increased travel and remittances to Cuba. Curbelo, a Miami-Dade County school board member, does not. Garcia likes to highlight that difference because traveling to the island is popular among younger Cuban-American voters. Curbelo prefers to note that he supports tightening the Cuban Adjustment Act while Garcia does not, a position more popular, at least anecdotally, among older Cuban Americans who more reliably go to the polls in midterm elections.

Activist Gus Garcia, no relation, a Democrat who has not endorsed anyone in the congressional race, said Tuesday that he found the ad to be "inappropriate." He blamed the congressman's campaign for putting Fariñas in a difficult position, since the civil and human-rights activist will likely have to work with whoever is elected.

"The struggle for civil and human rights in Cuba should be above American politics," he said. "To bring it into American politics is not in good taste."

With a week until Election Day, the ad comes too late in the campaign cycle to have much of an effect on voters, Garcia added, though he said other activists have called it a "desperate action" by the congressman to appeal to Cuban Americans who may be backing Curbelo in larger numbers.

"We criticize people for using the Cuban flag for political grandstanding," he said. "We should criticize this too."

At Monday's news conference, Rep. Garcia characterized Fariñas' involvement in his campaign as an expression of gratitude for his work even before he was elected in 2012.

"It's a statement of my years of service on this topic," he said. "What he talks about is the support that we've given civil society in Cuba."

Garcia once served as the executive director of the Miami-based Cuban American National Foundation, founded by the late Jorge Mas Canosa. CANF founders later created the nonprofit Foundation for HUman Rights in Cuba, which supports Fariñas and other dissidents.

Republicans have criticized the U.S. government for giving public grants to nonprofit despite its scant experience, accusing President Barack Obama's administration of political favoritism toward the organization because Mas Canosa's heirs have backed the Democratic president. They also brought Fariñas and another dissident to meet Obama at a Pinecrest fundraiser last year.

"In this campaign there have been a lot of allegations by people about ridiculous things," Garcia said Monday. "When the leading human-rights advocate in Cuba steps up and sort of says something about your years of service on this issue, I think it makes a tremendous difference."