Police warn of arrests today

By ELAINE DE VALLE
Herald Staff Writer

Despite police warnings that they may be arrested, members of the Movimiento
Democracia and other Cuban exile groups pushing for the release of a seized vessel
vowed to disrupt the commute in Miami-Dade County today and cause other chaos.

They promised to sit and lie down in the streets, block busy thoroughfares or intersections,
flood phone lines at federal agencies and the White House, and even disrupt service
at post offices.

While protest leaders declined to be specific about when and where most of the
disruptions would occur, they did provide one detailed schedule: on Tuesday
from noon to 2 p.m., they promise to stop traffic from entering or leaving the Port of
Miami-Dade.

The threat of disruptions follows a 19-day hunger strike by Democracia leader
Ramon Saul Sanchez, whose boat, The Human Rights, was seized by
presidential decree in December as he planned to set sail for Cuba with the goal
of distributing 2,000 copies of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

On Sunday, more than 200 supporters sat on the steps of the Miami-Dade
County Courthouse in downtown Miami, applauding and cheering Sanchez's call
to the community's conscience.

''Yes, they are going to haul us off to jail. Yes, they are going to arrest us,'' said
Sanchez, so weakened by his fast that his father and another man had to hold
him up. ''But I ask that you not resist. When a police officer comes up to you,
don't scream at them. Don't raise your hand to them.

''Then they won't be jailing a woman or a man. They will be jailing a piece of
dignity.''

During the vigil, which kicked off the weeklong campaign of ''civil disobedience,''
everyone raised a hand -- many raised both -- when Sanchez asked who was
committed to the crusade.

Goal is release of boat

But he cautioned his followers not to be violent, not to disobey police orders, and
to stop all activities when told to do so by protest leaders once the objective is
reached: release of the boat. The crowd agreed.

''Our enemy is to the south. This country is our brother,'' Sanchez said, reminding
them that the group's beef is with the U.S. government, not the American people.

''Although their government has done what they have done, the people here are
our friends. There will be conflict, but this is a decent and respectful community,
and when that conflict occurs, it will be with dignity.''

A lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union who represents Sanchez said he
was hopeful that disruptions would not be necessary and that the boat would be
returned soon.

''The thing that frightens me a little bit is that his life is on the line if he doesn't end
the hunger strike,'' said Andy Kayton, legal director for the ACLU of Florida.

U.S. role questioned

''It is difficult to understand, at this point, what benefit the federal government gets
from continuing to keep the vessel,'' he said.

The government has other resources to keep Sanchez from breaching the
security zone around Cuba, he said.

''One of the ironies in this situation, notwithstanding the government concern that
there was probable cause that this vessel was going to Cuba, is that at the time it
was seized, it was mechanically incapable of going to Cuba,'' Kayton said.

''When somebody's life is on the line, as here, that is no time for the government
to rest on any sort of institutional ego. The circumstances are far too important.''

As for the planned traffic protests, nobody would say specifically what roads
would be targeted.

''We can't say now or we would be neutralized,'' Democracia spokesman Norman
del Valle said. Like many, he said he isn't afraid of being arrested.

''What an honor,'' he said.

Arrests threatened

That's exactly what will happen to demonstrators who disrupt or block traffic on
state roads, said Florida Highway Patrol Lt. Ernesto Duarte, who remembers the
traffic nightmare of a 1995 protest that blocked traffic on the Dolphin Expressway.

That demonstration grew out of President Clinton's reversal of a long-standing
U.S. policy to welcome Cuban rafters.

''When you use large dump trucks to block or slow traffic down on a major
highway, you are not talking about inconveniencing the public. What you are
really doing is placing lives and property at peril,'' Duarte said.

''There are many different lawful methods of protesting. We hope that they
reconsider and not attempt to impede the roadways. If they do, their vehicles are
subject to tow as well as drivers being arrested,'' he said.

''We hope it doesn't come to that because we are part of the community also, but
we are not going to tolerate this from anyone.''

City manager's expectations

Miami City Manager Donald Warshaw said he did not expect problems.

''Over the years, in my years as police chief, we have had numerous
demonstrations and we have always worked with the exile community through the
permitting process,'' he said. ''We've really had very few negative incidents, and I
don't anticipate that this time will be any different.''

Though most protests are nondisruptive, the city will take ''appropriate measures''
to ensure public safety, Warshaw said.

But the threat of arrest does not deter some protesters.

Nadia del Toro and Felicia Garcia each spent time in Cuban jails -- two years for
del Toro and 19 years 6 months for Garcia.

Del Toro also spent time in Dade County Jail after a 1991 protest at the port.

''Compared to the jails in Cuba, this is a country club,'' she said.

''We know this is something that will bother a lot of people, and I understand. It is
not something that we want to do; in fact, it's the last thing we want to do. But we
have to do something so they listen to us.''