The Miami Herald
August 21, 2001

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.