I am back with a Satuday night Special...
It was just reported that the author of this article has just vanished from Miami<gggggg>
From Miami New Times on 4/19/2000
The Burden of a Violent History
By Jim Mullin
As the Elian Gonzalez media
juggernaut began approaching
warp speed over the past few
weeks, some in Miami's
Cuban-American community
expressed displeasure with the
portrait of them being painted by
the press. The muffled grumbling
became explicit on April 7
during Ted Koppel's Nightline
"town meeting," beamed to the
nation from Florida International
University.
A panelist on that program, the University of Miami's Juan Carlos
Espinosa, took off the gloves: "I think we really need to be careful
that we don't continue to engage in Cuban-exile bashing, which is
something I've been hearing a lot in the media coverage about
Miami."
Similar sentiments have been voiced by countless others, from
exile leaders to local politicians to Cuban-American celebrities.
And it's true that The Elian Show isn't playing so well in Peoria,
or Pinecrest for that matter. You know you've got image
problems when the staid New York Times editorializes with
evident concern that it appears "as if South Florida's Cuban
Americans believe in mob rule."
Phrases like "mob rule" evoke frightening images of violence,
which in turn sends Miami's damage-control specialists rushing to
the microphones and insisting to the world that the Cuban-exile
community is peace-loving, law-abiding, and (with emphasis now)
nonviolent. Miami Mayor Joe Carollo in particular has been
tireless in promoting that message. "Miami has been a peaceful,
nonviolent community," he stressed to CNN last week. The
historical record, however, clearly contradicts those assertions.
Lawless violence and intimidation have been hallmarks of el exilio
for more than 30 years. Given that fact, it's not only
understandable many people would be deeply worried, it's
prudent to be worried. Of course it goes without saying that the
majority of Cuban Americans in Miami do not sanction violence,
but its long tradition within the exile community cannot be ignored
and cannot simply be wished away.
The following list of violent incidents I compiled from a variety of
databases and news sources (a few come from personal
experience). It is incomplete, especially in Miami's trademark
category of bomb threats. Nor does it include dozens of acts of
violence and murder committed by Cuban exiles in other U.S.
cities and at least sixteen foreign countries. But completeness isn't
the point. The point is to face the truth, no matter how difficult that
may be. If Miami's Cuban exiles confront this shameful past --
and resolutely disavow it -- they will go a long way toward easing
their neighbors' anxiety about a peaceful future.
1968 From MacArthur Causeway, pediatrician Orlando Bosch
fires bazooka at a Polish freighter. (City of Miami later declares
"Orlando Bosch Day." Federal agents will jail him in 1988.)
1972 Julio Iglesias, performing at a local nightclub, says he
wouldn't mind "singing in front of Cubans." Audience erupts in
anger. Singer requires police escort. Most radio stations drop
Iglesias from playlists. One that doesn't, Radio Alegre, receives
bomb threats.
1974 Exile leader Jos‚ Elias de la Torriente murdered in his Coral
Gables home after failing to carry out a planned invasion of Cuba.
1974 Bomb blast guts the office of Spanish-language magazine
Replica.
1974 Several small Cuban businesses, citing threats, stop selling
Replica.
1974 Three bombs explode near a Spanish-language radio
station.
1974 Hector Diaz Limonta and Arturo Rodriguez Vives
murdered in internecine exile power struggles.
1975 Luciano Nieves murdered after advocating peaceful
coexistence with Cuba.
1975 Another bomb damages Replica's office.
1976 Rolando Masferrer and Ramon Donestevez murdered in
internecine exile power struggles.
1976 Car bomb blows off legs of WQBA-AM news director
Emilio Milian after he publicly condemns exile violence.
1977 Juan Jos‚ Peruyero murdered in internecine exile power
struggles.
1979 Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment interrupted
by gunfire and physical violence instigated by two exile groups.
1979 Bomb discovered at Padron Cigars, whose owner helped
negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.
1979 Bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.
1980 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.
1980 Powerful anti-personnel bomb discovered at American
Airways Charter, which arranges flights to Cuba.
1981 Bomb explodes at Mexican Consulate on Brickell Avenue
in protest of relations with Cuba.
1981 Replica's office again damaged by a bomb.
1982 Two outlets of Hispania Interamericana, which ships
medicine to Cuba, attacked by gunfire.
1982 Bomb explodes at Venezuelan Consulate in downtown
Miami in protest of relations with Cuba.
1982 Bomb discovered at Nicaraguan Consulate.
1982 Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre defends $10,000 grant to
exile commando group Alpha 66 by noting that the organization
"has never been accused of terrorist activities inside the United
States."
1983 Another bomb discovered at Replica.
1983 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.
1983 Bomb explodes at Paradise International, which arranges
travel to Cuba.
1983 Bomb explodes at Little Havana office of Continental
National Bank, one of whose executives, Bernardo Benes, helped
negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.
1983 Miami City Commissioner Demetrio Perez seeks to honor
exile terrorist Juan Felipe de la Cruz, accidentally killed while
assembling a bomb. (Perez is now a member of the Miami-Dade
County Public School Board and owner of the Lincoln-Mart¡
private school where Elian Gonzalez is enrolled.)
1983 Gunfire shatters windows of three Little Havana businesses
linked to Cuba.
1986 South Florida Peace Coalition members physically attacked
in downtown Miami while demonstrating against Nicaraguan
contra war.
1987 Bomb explodes at Cuba Envios, which ships packages to
Cuba.
1987 Bomb explodes at Almacen El Espa¤ol, which ships
packages to Cuba.
1987 Bomb explodes at Cubanacan, which ships packages to
Cuba.
1987 Car belonging to Bay of Pigs veteran is firebombed.
1987 Bomb explodes at Machi Viajes a Cuba, which arranges
travel to Cuba.
1987 Bomb explodes outside Va Cuba, which ships packages to
Cuba.
1988 Bomb explodes at Miami Cuba, which ships medical
supplies to Cuba.
1988 Bomb threat against Iberia Airlines in protest of Spain's
relations with Cuba.
1988 Bomb explodes outside Cuban Museum of Art and Culture
after auction of paintings by Cuban artists.
1988 Bomb explodes outside home of Maria Cristina Herrera,
organizer of a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations.
1988 Bomb threat against WQBA-AM after commentator
denounces Herrera bombing.
1988 Bomb threat at local office of Immigration and
Naturalization Service in protest of terrorist Orlando Bosch being
jailed.
1988 Bomb explodes near home of Griselda Hidalgo, advocate
of unrestricted travel to Cuba.
1988 Bomb damages Bele Cuba Express, which ships packages
to Cuba.
1989 Another bomb discovered at Almacen El Espa¤ol, which
ships packages to Cuba.
1989 Two bombs explode at Marazul Charters, which arranges
travel to Cuba.
1990 Another, more powerful, bomb explodes outside the Cuban
Museum of Art and Culture.
1991 Using crowbars and hammers, exile crowd rips out and
urinates on Calle Ocho "Walk of Fame" star of Mexican actress
Veronica Castro, who had visited Cuba.
1992 Union Radio employee beaten and station vandalized by
exiles looking for Francisco Aruca, who advocates an end to
U.S. embargo.
1992 Cuban American National Foundation mounts campaign
against the Miami Herald, whose executives then receive death
threats and whose newsracks are defaced and smeared with
feces.
1992 Americas Watch releases report stating that hard-line
Miami exiles have created an environment in which "moderation
can be a dangerous position."
1993 Inflamed by Radio Mamb¡ commentator Armando
Perez-Roura, Cuban exiles physically assault demonstrators
lawfully protesting against U.S. embargo. Two police officers
injured, sixteen arrests made. Miami City Commissioner Miriam
Alonso then seeks to silence anti-embargo demonstrators: "We
have to look at the legalities of whether the City of Miami can
prevent them from expressing themselves."
1994 Human Rights Watch/Americas Group issues report stating
that Miami exiles do not tolerate dissident opinions, that
Spanish-language radio promotes aggression, and that local
government leaders refuse to denounce acts of intimidation.
1994 Two firebombs explode at Replica magazine's office.
1994 Bomb threat to law office of Magda Montiel Davis
following her videotaped exchange with Fidel Castro.
1996 Music promoter receives threatening calls, cancels local
appearance of Cuba's La Orquesta Aragon.
1996 Patrons attending concert by Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo
Rubalcaba physically assaulted by 200 exile protesters.
Transportation for exiles arranged by Dade County
Commissioner Javier Souto.
1996 Firebomb explodes at Little Havana's Centro Vasco
restaurant preceding concert by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes.
1996 Firebomb explodes at Marazul Charters, which arranges
travel to Cuba.
1996 Arson committed at Tu Familia Shipping, which ships
packages to Cuba.
1997 Bomb threats, death threats received by radio station
WRTO-FM following its short-lived decision to include in its
playlist songs by Cuban musicians.
1998 Bomb threat empties concert hall at MIDEM music
conference during performance by 91-year-old Cuban musician
Compay Segundo.
1998 Bomb threat received by Amnesia nightclub in Miami Beach
preceding performance by Cuban musician Orlando "Maraca"
Valle.
1998 Firebomb explodes at Amnesia nightclub preceding
performance by Cuban singer Manol¡n.
1999 Violent protest at Miami Arena performance of Cuban
band Los Van Van leaves one person injured, eleven arrested.
1999 Bomb threat received by Seville Hotel in Miami Beach
preceding performance by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes. Hotel
cancels concert.
January 26, 2000 Outside Miami Beach home of Sister Jeanne
O'Laughlin, protester displays sign reading, "Stop the deaths at
sea. Repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act," then is physically
assaulted by nearby exile crowd before police come to rescue.
April 11, 2000 Outside home of Elian Gonzalez's Miami
relatives, radio talk show host Scot Piasant of Portland, Oregon,
displays T-shirt reading, "Send the boy home" and "A father's
rights," then is physically assaulted by nearby exile crowd before
police come to rescue. |
