The Miami Herald
March 6, 2001

Lobbying for Latin Grammys challenged

                                      Some in CANF opposed to idea

                                      BY CAROL ROSENBERG

                                      Some elder statesmen of the Cuban American National Foundation
                                      are unhappy about chairman Jorge Mas Santos' participation in a
                                      campaign to woo the Latin Grammy Awards to Miami, the latest
                                      effort by the lobby's young leader to stake out new turf on the
                                      Cuba issue.

                                      Mas, 38, co-signed a letter with Miami-Dade Mayor Alex
                                      Penelas and others that urged the Latin Academy of
                                      Recording Arts & Sciences to stage its Sept. 12 awards
                                      show at the AmericanAirlines Arena. Miami earlier spurned
                                      the event, citing a now-defunct policy that prohibited the
                                      county from doing business with firms or people with ties to
                                      Cuba.

                                      ``I think it's important that it happen in Miami,'' Mas said in a
                                      recent interview. ``If they are held in Los Angeles or New
                                      York, this community cannot show itself as the bastion of
                                      freedom of expression that it is.''

                                      Mas signed the Feb. 2 letter as ``Chairperson, South Florida
                                      Latin [Grammy] Host Committee.''

                                      But people inevitably associate Mas with the Cuban
                                      American National Foundation, and his role in trying to woo
                                      the Grammys has upset some people.

                                      Banker Luis Botifoll, 92, the foundation elder who has both
                                      an avenue and an auditorium named for him, said of the
                                      Grammys: ``I don't give a damn if they come or not. But I
                                      don't promote them to come. The foundation is created to
                                      liberate Cuba -- not to promote business in Miami.''

                                      Until last month, the U.S.-born Mas had made no public
                                      pronouncement on the Latin Grammys. His new advocacy
                                      coincides with a series of foundation innovations, launched
                                      after the Elián González episode was seen by some as a
                                      public relations problem that damaged Cuban-American
                                      clout.

                                      Some Executive Committee members who agreed to speak
                                      for publication complained that Mas never consulted them on
                                      the Grammys. They added that, even if Mas is championing
                                      the Grammys outside his foundation duties, his ideas reflect
                                      poorly on the two-decade old organization.

                                      ``This issue was not discussed on the Foundation board.
                                      The only person who benefits from this is Fidel Castro,'' said
                                      Horacio García, 61, a fast-food franchisee. Of Mas he said,
                                      ``He's the chairman but I have the right to disagree.''

                                      ``He can do whatever he wants as a person but not under
                                      the Cuban American National Foundation,'' added Elpidio
                                      Núñez, 78, a meat wholesaler. Bringing the Grammys to
                                      Miami, he said, ``is not going to help free Cuba in any way.''

                                      Bringing the Grammys to Miami ``would be provocative
                                      toward the Cuban exiles,'' said Executive Committee
                                      member Diego Suárez, 74, a heavy machinery industrialist
                                      who was part of the inner circle that founded the organization
                                      with Mas' father. ``As a member of the Cuban American
                                      National Foundation, I believe that it is unacceptable that the
                                      Cuban artists come here.''

                                      DISAGREEMENT

                                      Just how widespread the disagreement is is difficult to
                                      determine. Foundation President Francisco ``Pepe''
                                      Hernández, who praises Mas' Grammys advocacy, declined
                                      to release a list of 28 executive committee members, 19 of
                                      whom live in Miami, making it impossible to poll the inner
                                      circle. Seven people identified by other Foundation members
                                      as Executive Committee members would not comment or
                                      did not respond to repeated telephone calls. Foundation
                                      spokeswoman Ninoska Pérez Castellón, 50, also declined
                                      to comment.

                                      CANF has about 150 directors and trustees, many of whom
                                      do not live in South Florida. No vote has been held on the
                                      Grammys, although both advocates and opponents agree
                                      there is unhappiness among some members of the group
                                      that for years has sought to hide their disputes from the
                                      Castro regime.

                                      ``These are strong-willed people. They have strong debates
                                      internally. These are not Mickey Mouse issues,'' said
                                      Executive Director Joe Garcia.

                                      Hernández downplayed the discontent, saying he heard
                                      greater unhappiness late last year after he escorted
                                      Democratic vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman to
                                      the grave of Jorge Mas Canosa, the chairman's father and
                                      organization founder who died in 1997.

                                      Others would say only that any dispute was not something
                                      for public comment. ``We are 100 people. We have different
                                      opinions,'' said Executive Committee member Clara María
                                      Del Valle, 56. ``But the dirty laundry, you wash at home --
                                      not in the street.''

                                      Even Botifoll indicated that he disliked voicing his concerns
                                      to a reporter, saying the airing of disagreement ``is helping
                                      Castro.'' ``Just write that the foundation is more united than
                                      ever, more strong than ever, and has more resources than
                                      ever. Period,'' he urged.

                                      One Mas supporter said Mas was willing to take his position
                                      on the Grammy because ``we feel more secure about the
                                      embargo now'' with a Republican in the White House.

                                      ``We are not afraid to confront the enemy with ideas. This is
                                      going to help put the Cuba issue on the front pages,'' said
                                      auto dealer Lombardo Pérez Sr., 61, an Executive
                                      Committee member.

                                      Advocates argue that supporting the Grammys' coming to
                                      Miami is important to overcome stereotypes of Cuban
                                      Americans as opposing freedom of expression.

                                      ``I think we have to show the rest of the people that our
                                      quarrel is not with the Cuban people, with the Cuban
                                      musicians. Our quarrel is with Fidel Castro,'' said
                                      Hernández.

                                      During the Elián González episode, Hernández said, ``The
                                      Cuban community suffered greatly; a lot of people were
                                      ready to bury us.''

                                      Other recent Mas initiatives have also have raised eyebrows.

                                      POLICY ADDRESS

                                      On Dec. 7 in Washington, he delivered a policy address as
                                      CANF chairman that advocated micro-loans to independent
                                      enterprise on the island, citing struggling independent soup
                                      kitchens, restaurants, hostels, farmers, day care centers
                                      and church-run clinics. He said the aid should be ``overt''
                                      through nongovernmental organizations and that any attempt
                                      by Castro to interfere with it would expose his unwillingness
                                      to help his own people.

                                      In the same speech, at the Inter American Dialogue, a group
                                      whose members had just met Castro, Mas softened his
                                      criticism of such fact-finding delegations with a request that
                                      next time, they bring Spanish-language books for
                                      independent libraries there.

                                      Botifoll and Suárez said they agreed to the broad goals of
                                      supporting dissidents but never signed off on trying to
                                      distribute computers or cell phones or micro-loans inside
                                      Cuba.

                                      ``Theoretically, it looks great -- computers and support for
                                      the fight against Castro,'' said Suárez. But any equipment
                                      would inevitably fall into the hands of the government, which
                                      has ``a 100 percent screen and will never permit even one
                                      calculator to the opposition.'' Send cash to families of
                                      political prisoners instead, he said.

                                      ``We don't support making loans to Castro,'' said Botifoll.
                                      INCREASED AID

                                      Domingo Moreira, a pro-Grammys executive committee
                                      member, said he didn't expect the micro-loan idea to
                                      succeed -- but said experimentation is good. Mas and
                                      Hernández note that directors three years ago approved
                                      increased aid to dissidents, though they acknowledge they
                                      never submitted the specific ideas to the Executive Board.

                                      The possibility that the Grammys might come to Miami has
                                      also ruffled some feathers outside the foundation.

                                      ``We reject the theory that politics has no relation with the
                                      arts and sports,'' said a Junta Patriotica Cubana declaration.
                                      ``Only those people favored by the regimes are allowed to
                                      demonstrate their artistic, athletic or intellectual abilities in
                                      international events.''

                                      And callers to Spanish-language radio have been ruminating
                                      for days on the motives of Mas, who became chairman little
                                      over a year ago of the foundation founded by his father in
                                      1981 to exert exile clout in Washington.

                                      La Poderosa radio station owner Jorge Rodriguez, a
                                      Foundation director from 1983 to 1990, said Mas
                                      miscalculated when he adopted the Grammy cause. ``If
                                      some artists come from Cuba and win an award, the exiles
                                      will look bad. The Cubans -- Jorge Mas Santos or myself --
                                      someone who fights against the Cuban government for 40
                                      years would be hosts? Everybody's against it.''

                                      Mas remains adamant in his position, however. ``I don't
                                      listen to La Poderosa.''