Protests jeopardize safety at event, show chief says
BY ANDRES VIGLUCCI, JORDAN LEVIN AND CHARLES RABIN
The Latin Grammys organization pulled its awards show out
of Miami on Monday, saying a planned protest by Cuban
exiles jeopardized the safety of attendees who would be
forced to march a dangerous ``gantlet'' past demonstrators
to reach AmericanAirlines Arena.
In announcing the Sept. 11 awards show's move to
Los Angeles, Latin Grammy chief executive C.
Michael Greene flatly rejected as inadequate a
compromise plan for the protest site worked out
among exile organizations, the American Civil
Liberties Union of Florida and Miami Mayor Joe
Carollo. The plan would have put demonstrators
across Biscayne Boulevard from the arena.
But Greene told CBS, which will televise the ceremony live,
that the plan would have allowed the demonstrators too
close to attendees making their way to the arena. Greene
said he was less concerned about having ``limousines pelted
with eggs'' than about the security of about 7,000 attendees
who he said would be walking past the protesters to the
arena entrance.
``Having to run that gantlet is demeaning at best and
dangerous at worst,'' he said, citing a 1999 Miami Arena
concert by Cuban band Los Van Van in which some
attendees were escorted out by riot police while
demonstrators launched eggs, soda cans and other missiles
at them.
In a later statement issued by his organization, Greene said
protesters had ``secured tickets to the show and were
organizing a disruption to the live telecast itself.'' He provided
no details or evidence. Miami police said they had no such
information. Tickets are not sold to the general public, but
are distributed by invitation or sold to corporate sponsors
and record companies.
The Latin Grammys' withdrawal represents a serious blow to
Miami civic and political leaders, who had courted the show
assiduously as a boon to the city's image, and had worked
frantically during the weekend to salvage it when it appeared
to be in danger. It was expected the program would generate
$35 million locally and be watched by 800 million people
worldwide.
Some exile leaders, in particular Cuban American National
Foundation chairman Jorge Mas Santos, lobbied heavily for
the show to come to Miami to demonstrate the community's
capacity for tolerance after last year's Elián González saga.
Greene's statement, broadcast about 5:30 p.m. by
WFOR-CBS 4, was quickly followed by lamentations,
denunciations and finger-pointing that reflected both
community divisions over the issue and the high hopes
many had pinned on hosting the show.
A crestfallen Emilio Estefan, the influential Miami musician
and producer who helped lure the show here, said simply: ``I
have no words to express what I feel.''
Exile organizations, who had vowed the demonstration would
be peaceful, and the ACLU criticized Greene for what they
said was his unwillingness to compromise. ACLU attorney
Randall Marshall accused the Latin Grammy group of
seeking ``a sanitized TV image of the event'' by keeping
protesters out of sight.
``It is a sad day for our community,'' said Francisco Garcia,
one of the protest organizers. ``We didn't want to lose the
Latin Grammys. But Mr. Greene and his Grammy
organization have no respect for our rights to express
ourselves. We wanted to express ourselves freely so people
could hear and see what we feel.''
Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, who had attempted to
craft a last-minute compromise that would have moved
arriving Grammy attendees farther from the protest zone,
clearly felt sandbagged by Greene. He said he outlined his
plan on the phone to Greene, who pledged a prompt
response. Minutes later, Penelas said, he turned on his TV
to see the Grammy executive's statement -- which had
obviously been taped earlier.
``We did everything the organizers asked. I'm not sure what
else we could have done,'' Penelas said.
Mas Santos said he believed the compromise on security
was adequate.
``I disagree vehemently with the academy pulling the
Grammys from here,'' he said. ``There was no reason for
them to do that.''
But other prominent exiles criticized the demonstration
organizers for having cast Miami and the anti-Castro cause
once again in a bad light.
``This is a terrible embarrassment to this community and to
Cubans in particular,'' said Armando Codina, a developer and
business leader whose former partner is Gov. Jeb Bush.
``They had been invited here. Then for us to cause them to
pull out because of a small group that I don't think
represents the Cuban community -- and to see politicians
playing into the issue -- that's a disgrace.''
Codina, who was not involved in the effort to attract the Latin
Grammys to Miami, made it clear that he placed principal
blame on Carollo, who is running for reelection, for stirring up
the protesters ``because it plays to his political base'' of
hardline exiles.
But Carollo, like other exiles, defined the issue as one of
protesters' free-speech rights, which he said should take
precedence over the awards show.
``Anyone can point a finger at me,'' Carollo said Monday
night at a City Hall news conference. ``What I've stood up for
are the First Amendment rights of the Constitution.''
The first Latin Grammys award show was held last year in
Los Angeles because a Miami-Dade County ordinance --
since struck down in court -- barred use of county facilities
for any enterprise that had dealings with Cuba.
Several Cuban musicians are nominated this year, but none
was scheduled to perform and it was unclear whether any
would attend.
Still, the possibility that some Cuban stars would attend
spurred plans for a protest by a coalition of dozens of exile
organizations large and small. The city's initial plan, agreed
to by the Latin Grammy group, called for a ``security zone''
encompassing a two-block radius around the arena, that
would restrict protesters to a spot south of the arena in front
of Bayside Marketplace.
The exile groups wanted to be close to the arena, well within
sight of spectators and news cameras, and enlisted the aid
of the ACLU. Exile leaders also complained to Carollo, who
set up a meeting with top city administrators that last week
resulted in a plan to move the demonstrators to the Freedom
Tower, across the street from the arena.
That would have put them a couple of hundred feet from the
``red-carpet'' area where limos would be dropping off stars,
too far for thrown objects to reach, Miami police said. Miami
police contradicted Greene, saying most of the expected
10,000 attendees could be bused directly into the arena.
But in an interview later with The Herald, Greene said he did
not believe police assurances. He insisted that his concern
was limited to the proximity of demonstrators to attendees,
not with the exile demonstration itself. He said he had
viewed a video of the Van Van concert and called it ``pretty
scary.''
``The final straw was when some of our people saw the Van
Van footage this morning of people getting hit with eggs and
batteries and the police in full riot gear,'' Greene said. ``There
won't be metal detectors. All you need is five people with
rocks and batteries.''
Greene expressed concern that the protests would deflect
attention from the awards and musical performances, which
he said would be unfair to nominees and organization
members not concerned with the Cuban issue.
Greene placed the blame on Carollo and other city officials.
He complained that security and logistical details had been
nailed down two months ago, then altered only last week.
``There's nothing to make me believe that the city of Miami
couldn't change their mind at the drop of a hat -- they've
already proved their word doesn't mean anything,'' Greene
said.
However, he praised Penelas and CANF head Mas Santos'
efforts on behalf of the show. He also left open the possibility
of returning the show to Miami next year.
``Penelas and Mas Santos burned a lot of political capital to
pull this off,'' Greene said. ``They have been forthright and
really worked hard.''
Greene said he considered moving the show to Broward
County. Nicki Grossman, head of the Greater Fort
Lauderdale Visitors and Convention Bureau, said the tight
schedule did not allow sufficient time to address logistics
and security concerns. But Broward will bid next year, she
said.
``I think we're in the mix for a future Latin Grammys. We're
going to be pitching . . . as soon as this one is over,'' she
said.
Herald staff writers Gail Esptein-Nieves, Elaine de Valle,
Cynthia Corzo, Daniel Chang, Jay Weaver, Tyler Bridges
and Keny Feijoo contributed to this report.