[Via Communist Internet... http://www.egroups.com/group/Communist-Internet ] . . ----- Original Message ----- From: Walter Lippmann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: CubaNews <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, July 26, 2001 12:16 AM Subject: [CubaNews] US Anti-Castro Lobby In Disarray (VOA) US Anti-Castro Lobby In Disarray Michael Bowman Miami 25 Jul 2001 00:52 UTC Listen to Michael Bowman's report (RealAudio) http://www.voanews.com/mediastore/leland_miami_anti-casto_group_24july01.ram Bowman's report - download 315k (RealAudio) Miami's large Cuban exile community has sought for decades to present a unified front in pursuing an end to communist rule in Cuba. But the exiles' most-powerful lobbying group, the Cuban American National Foundation, now finds itself in a state of disarray after the departure of one of its strongest voices. For years, Ninoska Perez has been one of the of the Cuban exile community's best-known members. As a local radio talk show host and spokesperson for the Cuban-American National Foundation, Ms. Perez has been an unrelenting critic of Cuban President Fidel Castro. She has long-championed a hard-line approach to Cuba, steadfastly defending the U.S. economic embargo of the island nation and lambasting any contact, cultural or otherwise, between the two countries. But late last week, Ms. Perez left the Cuban American National Foundation. Speaking Monday on her radio program, "Ninoska A La Una," she blasted the foundation's current leadership, which she accused of unilaterally changing policies to the detriment of the cause of freedom in Cuba. As an example, she cited the foundation's decision to endorse Miami as the site for the Latin Grammy music awards, even though the event will feature Cuban artists. Ms. Perez says she is leaving the foundation because it has stopped being the organization that she and others helped create years ago. She says she is not leaving because of the Grammy awards per se, but because of the way the foundation reached its decision on the matter. She says she and others were excluded from the decision-making process and that she cannot be a part of such an organization. Ms. Perez said the foundation is betraying the legacy of its founder, the arch anti-Castro activist Jorge Mas Canosa, who died in 1997. At times fighting back tears, Ms. Perez said leaving the foundation was no easy matter. Ms. Perez says her decision was a painful one, knowing that it could hurt the foundation and that the Cuban government would derive satisfaction from it. But she says she does not know which is worse: belonging to a group that does not respect its members wishes and makes decisions behind closed doors, or taking the step she is now taking of leaving the organization. The Cuban American National Foundation says Ms. Perez, like all members, could have voiced her views at board meetings rather than leaving the organization. Clara Maria del Valle is vice-chairperson of the foundation. Ms. Del Valle says there are correct ways of doing things. She says Ms. Perez' actions have not been correct, and that she has said defamatory things about the foundation's directors. Ms. del Valle says there should be no fighting among exiles, but against Fidel Castro, adding that the foundation will survive, but the quest for change in Cuba has been harmed. Observers say the Cuban American National Foundation, and the Cuban exile community as a whole, is working to repair its image after last year's bruising custody battle over shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez. Polls show, as the saga unfolded, that many Americans came to view Cuban exiles more as irrational extremists than defenders of democracy. That, according to analysts, has led the Cuban American National Foundation to seek to moderate its image and, hence, embrace largely-symbolic measures such as the Latin Grammys in Miami. But the repositioning has clearly enraged hard-liners like Ninoksa Perez. Cuba analyst Max Castro at the University of Miami says Ms. Perez' departure is a big loss for the foundation. "This has weakened the hard-line position [of exiles regarding Cuba]. Ninoska Perez was a bridge between the elite, business-oriented directors of the Cuban-American National Foundation and the hard-line, grass-roots anti-Castro exiles in the community," he said. "Her loss means the foundation's support is diminished, and when the foundation goes before the court of public opinion or before the [U.S.] Congress to speak on behalf of Cuban-Americans, it has less clout and less credibility." Mr. Castro says although the foundation has alienated many hard-liners, no one should expect the organization to drop its insistence that overall U.S. sanctions against Cuba remain in place. http://www.voanews.com/index.cfm
