Fla Politicians bring Anti-Castro fight to Tallahassee

[guajira]

Cuban-American Florida State Representatives want "freedom" for Cuba, but what about freedom for Americans to travel and trade in Cuba??

snippet:
State Rep. David Rivera was elected to represent a district that includes parts of Miami-Dade, Broward and Collier counties. But if he had his way, he'd be the alcalde of the city in Cuba where his family comes from, Cienfuegos.

''You grow up and all your family does is talk about Cuba. Your parents, your grandparents, they instill in you a sense of pride in the homeland,'' said Rivera, who was born in New York and has never been to Cuba. ``I want to be mayor of Cienfuegos in a free Cuba.''
more....

Critics say Rivera and others in the Legislature who rally round the Cuban flag are merely pandering to conservative Cuban exiles in South Florida, and should be focusing their energies on tackling Florida's many problems.

George Willis, a Democratic political activist from Collier County, said he is stunned by Rivera's obsession with Cuba.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/8016915.htm

[BayCityProgressive]

1. How about a "free Florida" first?

[Hand]

2. Don't hold your breath, gusano-boy...

Well, on second thought, DO hold your breath. Until you suffocate.

:evilgrin:

[Vogon_Glory]

3. A Right-Wing Pol Doomed To Frustration

I suspect that if and when the Cuban government reforms and allows for free elections, right-wing Cuban exiles like this Rivera fellow are doomed to frustration and powerlessness as Cuba's social democratic voters ask such rude, pointed questions such as what Rivera was doing when they were suffering from the Embargo and what he and the other right-wing exiles were doing in post-Castro economic reconstruction.

I myself have visited Cienfuegos. It's a charming little city and I hope it can keep its charm and character as the Cuban economy revs up. Nevertheless, I think that Rivera's Florida constituents should elect a representative that pays attention to their district's interests. I also hope that someone in Cienfuegos is keeping an eye on the sort of zoning and planning legislation that this Rivera person is voting for--just in case.

[guajira]

4. Unfortunately Rivera is just one of many in S. Fla

According to the article, he has never ever been to Cuba! Yet he wants to be the Mayor of Cienfuegos!

I haven't been to Cienfuegos (would love to go) but I've been to Havana, and Cubans I talked to there don't want Cuban exiles coming back there and taking over!

Seems like Americans would be politically savvy enough to know better than to elect people who put hating Castro above Americans freedoms.

We're giving our country away and nobody cares!!!

[Mika]

5. Pride in the homeland?

''You grow up and all your family does is talk about Cuba. Your parents, your grandparents, they instill in you a sense of pride in the homeland,'' said Rivera, who was born in New York and has never been to Cuba.

Homeland? Who's homeland? :wtf:

``I want to be mayor of Cienfuegos in a free Cuba.''

The f-ing nerve.



Gotta love what George Willis said..

George Willis, a Democratic political activist from Collier County, said he is stunned by Rivera's obsession with Cuba.

''He ought to be run out of office,'' Willis said. ``We've got so many problems in Florida that for a legislator to spend his time on anything other than the people of Florida, he's not fulfilling his responsibilities.''

Rivera, 38, proudly says that his top priority is to help Cuba become free.

Its nobody's fault but our own.. for just handing over our country to these cretins and traitors to our nation.

[Judi Lynn]

6. Rivera tells the pResident where to head in on Cuba!

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http://capwiz.com/fof/bio/?lvl=L&chamber=H&ID=136995&submit=View%2BMember
Girls, he SINGLE! :eyes:

David took part in penning a true gem to their pResident _Bush. He and his cohorts decided the U.S. pResident could benefit from knowing their fondest wishes concerning their parents' birthplace.

Legislators say Cuba letter may get results
BY OSCAR CORRAL AND LESLEY CLARK | [e-mail] | Miami Herald

Two Republican state legislators who signed a letter to President Bush urging him to get tougher on Cuba or face a loss of Cuban American political support said they received phone calls from Bush staffers Monday indicating an eventual positive response.

State Rep. David Rivera, who helped draft the letter signed by 13 Hispanic lawmakers, said a Bush administration official called him to talk about news reports of the document. Rivera declined to identify the person or the topic, but said, "I am optimistic that positive news is forthcoming on U.S.-Cuba policy.''

State Rep. Marco Rubio, another of the signers, said he also got a call early Monday morning from a White House staffer whom he wouldn't identify. 'They said, `You can be sure the right people, the decision makers, are going to know about this today,' '' Rubio said.
(snip)

The letter, sent Monday, urges the president to make key changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba or face an erosion of support from Cuban Americans, who have traditionally been one of the Republican party's core constituencies. It asks Bush to revise U.S.-Cuba immigration policy; indict Fidel Castro for murder; beef up TV Marti, and increase aid to dissidents on the island.

Several of the legislators on Monday said The Herald's story about the letter incorrectly said that it warned the president that he could lose their personal support if there were no action taken on Cuba. In fact, the carefully phrased document only warned Bush that he might lose the backing of the Cuban American community in general in 2004 -- not necessarily that of the individual signers.
(snip)

http://havanajournal.com/politics_more/A830_0_5_0_M/

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(snip)
''The lack of turnout among Republican-elected officials at the campaign kickoff may highlight a problem among Cuban-American voters that must be addressed,'' said state Rep. David Rivera of Miami.

He was among the legislators who did not attend, saying he had scheduling conflicts.

''As Republican-elected officials, we want to deliver overwhelming support for the president's reelection, but we need help on the Cuba issue to achieve it,'' said Rivera, one of 13 state representatives to sign the letter to the White House.
(snip/...)

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/2004/02/02/news/7845842.htm

[Judi Lynn]

7. Bush's "exile-"pleasing plot to seize Cuba

from the former head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Wayne Smith:

(snip)...Now the Bush Administration is planning to bring about regime change just to our south - though, it insists (so far at least) that it will do so by peaceful means. It has virtually closed off channels for dialogue with the Cuban government, even in early January of this year suspending the twice-yearly migration talks. You don't seek dialogue, you see, with a government you intend to oust, and regime change is now the avowed objective of the Bush Administration in Cuba. As Assistant Secretary of State Roger Noriega put it to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on October 2 of last year, "the president is determined to see the end of the Castro regime and the dismantling of the apparatus that has kept him in office for so long."

Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba

To achieve that goal, the President has now appointed a Commission for Assistance to a Free Cuba 1) "to bring about the expeditious end of the dictatorship" <1> and 2) to develop a plan to provide assistance to the Cuban people in a post-Castro Cuba. Commission members include all cabinet level agencies. The core agencies responsible for its day-to-day operations, however, include the Secretary of State (its chairman); the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; the Secretary of the Treasury; the Secretary of Commerce; the Secretary of Homeland Security; the Assistant to the President of National Security Affairs; and the Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Secretary of State Powell has appointed Assistant Secretary Roger Noriega to oversee the day-to-day operations of the Commission.

Questionable Goal: Regime Change

Now, while it may seem premature to plan for assistance to the Cuban people in a post-Castro period, no one can object to the concept, assuming that the Cuban people and authorities, when the times comes, wish to receive such assistance. Bringing about "the end of the Castro regime" is something else again. The Bush Administration insists that this will be brought about by peaceful means, and mentions assistance to the internal opposition as one of the principal instruments to achieve its goal. But that is still in blatant violation of the principle of non-intervention in the internal affairs of another state, embodied, for example, in the Charter of the OAS <2>. That appears to be a matter of no concern to the Administration - not surprisingly, since its attitude toward international law and treaty restrictions can best be described as utterly contemptuous.

There is nothing in international law, in the Charter of the United Nations or in the Charter of the OAS, that would give the U.S. the right to change the government in Cuba. Quite the contrary. But the Bush Administration goes even further; it insists that "neither would it accept a successor regime."
(snip/...)

http://www.axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/article_5259.shtml