Awards officials' decision awaited

 BY ELAINE DE VALLE AND LUISA YANEZ

 Calling it a final offer, nearly 200 Cuban exiles representing more than 100 organizations agreed on Sunday to a city-offered compromise site from which they can protest the presence of Cuban musicians from the island at the Latin Grammy Awards in downtown Miami.

 Grammy officials must still accept the proposal, which a host committee spokeswoman said is similar to a plan they have already discarded.

 ACLU attorneys enlisted by the exiles told them a lawsuit would not necessarily get them closer to the AmericanAirlines Arena for the Sept. 11 event and that the proposed location -- in front of the Freedom Tower, diagonally across from the arena -- satisfies their needs.

 ``This is a significant departure from what the Police Department originally proposed, which was 600 feet or two football fields away,'' said Randall Marshall, legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Florida.

 The proposal is to close the southbound lanes of Biscayne Boulevard and limit exiles to a space between Northeast Sixth and Seventh streets in front of the Freedom Tower between 5 and 7 p.m., Marshall said. After 7 p.m., the protest could expand south of Fifth Street, where protesters will be able to be on both the north and southbound lanes of Biscayne.

 Marshall said the section in front of the Freedom Tower can hold about 4,500 people, although no more than that are expected until after 7 p.m., shortly before most stars and audience members are expected to arrive for the 9 p.m. event.

 FREEDOM TOWER

 The location was recommended by Miami Police Chief Raul Martinez, but it may clash with the Freedom Tower tenants -- the Cuban American National Foundation -- which has plans of its own, spokesman Joe Garcia said on Sunday.

 ``We're going to make a clear statement about the plight of 11 million Cubans on the island who are denied their human rights,'' he said, declining to elaborate further. Garcia said CANF would seek a permit from the Miami Police Department for the message, which will probably be a sign or some other visible image on the building's façade, which faces the arena.

 ``It's a perfect opportunity. There will be over 1,000 members of the international media here,'' he said. ``Our statement will speak for the entire reasonable community.''

 City officials offered the area Friday after Grammy officials threatened to pull the show out of Miami if protesters were allowed too close to the arena. Originally, groups had been told to protest more than two blocks away, in front of Bayside Marketplace.

 Exiles -- who wanted to be directly in front of the arena and/or by the VIP entrance -- threatened to sue the city for violating their First Amendment rights.

 MIDDLE GROUND

 The middle ground works for three reasons, said Lida Rodríguez-Taseff, president of the ACLU's Miami chapter.

 ``The limousines are going to pass right in front,'' Rodríguez-Taseff said. ``People who are walking to enter the awards will be walking on Sixth Street, so protesters will be able to show their protest, from across the barricades, to those people.

 ``And from the top of the arena steps, you'll be able to see the whole line of protesters.''

 But it is not clear whether Sunday's show of hands by the exiles will be accepted by the Latin Grammys. C. Michael Greene, CEO and president of the Latin Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, has already contacted Broward County officials about the National Car Rental Center to see whether the show could move if needed. Another possible venue is the Great Western Forum in Los Angeles.

 Ron Roecker, spokesman for the Grammys, said the Latin Academy was not prepared to say yet whether it would accept the compromise site. ``It's an issue of safety for our guests, and that the logistics of a live international show go off flawlessly.''

 DETERMINATION

 He said a determination would come soon. ``We know we have to make a quick decision, but we want to make the right decision.''

 Lily Abello, executive director of the Grammys welcoming committee, said organizers will probably not like the location.

 ``They have clearly sustained that [having demonstrators across the street] is not what is understood as a security zone,'' she said, adding that the city-offered site was not a compromise.

 ``It's the same area they expressed concern about.''

 She said the stance of Grammys officials has nothing to do with a fear that protesters will be violent.

 ``The reason is not to keep protesters out or far away. It is just to basically secure the egress and ingress the traffic. We have four lanes of limousines. It's really to get people in and out of the arena safely,'' Abello said.

 Protesters said the ball is now in the Grammys' court. They vowed not to move farther south from the location voted on behind closed doors Sunday at the Little Havana headquarters of the Presidio Politico Historico Cubano, an organization of former political prisoners.

 THE CROWD

 ``If they [Grammy officials] don't accept this, gentlemen, let there be no Grammys,'' said Rodolfo Rodríguez San Román, president of the organization.

 The crowd responded enthusiastically: ``Que se vayan! Que se vayan!'' Let them leave.

 Said Marshall: ``If they choose to do so, it is because they prefer to run 600 limos over the First Amendment.''

 Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas, who lobbied hard to bring the show to Miami, said it was too soon to know Sunday whether the academy would accept. But he said he had spoken with Greene.

 ``Everyone has agreed to keep the status quo for a couple of days,'' Penelas said.

 Luigi Crespo, a spokesman for Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, said: ``The mayor hopes the Grammys stay in Miami, but he needs to run the city and to make sure that the citizens' constitutional rights are granted.''

 Penelas said he is scheduled to meet Tuesday with Emilio Izquierdo Jr., the exile groups' representative.

 ``Protests are nothing new to the Grammys,'' he said in a statement faxed to the media Sunday afternoon. ``In previous occasions, other communities have protested
 various issues during the show. This community is no different.''

 Exiles have repeatedly stated that they have nothing against the Grammys or hosting the awards show in Miami. They want to protest the presence of Cuban musicians who they believe are manipulated and used as ambassadors of Fidel Castro's government. If Cuban artists invited or nominated do not attend -- it is possible the Cuban government may not grant them exit visas -- there will be no protest.

 But U.S.-based representatives for two of the Cuban nominees -- Issac Delgado and Chucho Valdés -- have said they do not expect the exit visas to be denied.

 LAMBASTED

 Cubans have lambasted city and county officials for letting Grammy organizers try to keep protesters away from a two-block radius around the arena.

 ``If they did this blockade to Cuba, Fidel Castro wouldn't exist,'' said Izquierdo.

 Commentators on Cuban radio urged Cubans to protest -- but peacefully.

 Part of the concern about any demonstration is that the scene could turn into something like the one outside the Miami Arena on Oct. 9, 1999, when the Los Van Van concert brought about 3,500 protesters, some of whom pelted concert-goers with eggs, rocks, soda cans and at least one size D battery.

 Police in riot gear escorted some concert-goers to the parking lots. Ten protesters were arrested.

 Protesters at the Los Van Van concert were approximately 200 feet from the entrance to the arena.

 The Freedom Tower plan for the Grammys protest would have demonstrators about 300 feet away from the stairs at the AmericanAirlines Arena.

 "Remember that back then, the spies were out loose on the street and they had a plan to discredit the exile community,'' Izquierdo said. ``But check the facts. Cubans have never done any damage to the city.''

 The ACLU's Marshall said the past should not be a consideration.

 "There's a degree to which it insults if someone suggests that protesters are going to become violent,'' he said. ``These individuals are well intentioned. They have a
 message that they want heard and they have said repeatedly that they are interested in a peaceful demonstration.''

 Herald staff writers Daniel Chang, Keny Feijoo and Jordan Levin contributed to this report.

                                    © 2001