By Elected Republican Officials and Greater Miami Republican leaders, Florida, USA

August 15, 2003

The Honorable George W. Bush
President of the United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We are proud and grateful for your strong, dedicated and spirited leadership as you guide our Country during these difficult times. However, it is with deep regret that we write to you today. We must join our voices to our colleagues in the Florida House of Representatives and express our deep concern over your administration’s policy towards Cuba. While we appreciate your commitment to maintaining the U.S. embargo against the Castro dictatorship, the struggles and pleas of the Cuban-American community have been unanswered for too long. We supported your candidacy for President with great enthusiasm, and we expected a more proactive approach to the Cuba situation consistent with your position on Cuba during the Presidential campaign.

We have celebrated when other nations were freed from oppression and dictatorship. We have seen the peoples of Nicaragua, Panama, Haiti, Afghanistan, and now Iraq, rejoice in their freedom. We have watched in amazement as the Berlin Wall was torn down and the eastern bloc countries, one by one, broke the chains of communism. These accomplishments were due, in great part, to the political vision and wisdom of the Republican leadership in the White House and Congress. Mr. President, Cuban-Americans have great faith in your Republican Administration.

The Cuban-American community has long shared the values of the Republican Party. We have swelled the ranks of the party and have loyally supported its candidates for office, including you and other members of the Bush family. We embraced your campaign message and believed that your administration would pursue a new policy to bring Cuba back into the fold of free nations. Once you became President, you returned to South Florida and outlined a new strategy that we all applauded and supported. Sadly, as of today, little has changed regarding Cuba. In fact, your administration has continued the Clinton Administration’s policies toward Cuba.

Mr. President, your attention is urgently needed in the following areas:

Authorize improvements in Radio and TV Marti so their programs can reach the information-starved people on the island.
Implement Title III of the Helms-Burton Act.
Abolish the “wet-foot dry-foot” policy by which Cubans who seek freedom are returned, without due process, to Cuba, a place our country has labeled as a violator of Human Rights.
Suspend so-called “Trade Missions” to Cuba that have as their sole purpose selling U.S. products to the dictator, without providing any benefit to oppressed Cubans.

We are Republicans and elected officials of a County that supports and admires you. We must not ignore the potential for significant erosion in the loyalty of our constituency, which is frustrated over the unfulfilled promise made by every candidate for President over the last 40 years: a free Cuba. Forty-two years ago, President John F. Kennedy’s administration betrayed the dreams of Cuban freedom fighters at the Bay of Pigs, and solidified the dictatorship’s hold on the Cuban people. That betrayal became a rallying point for many Cuban-Americans to join the Republican Party. The Cuban-Americans’ loyal support cannot, and should not, be taken for granted.

Today Cubans continue their pursuit for freedom. Oscar Elias Bisect, Martha Beatriz Roque, Raul Rivero, Lester Gonzalez Penton, and Oscar Manuel Espinosa Chepe are but a few of many dissidents and political prisoners who fill Cuban jails, long known to be places where the most basic human rights are denied. Their only crime has been to exercise rights secured to all under the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Mr. President, we trust your commitment to freedom for all oppressed people and support your efforts towards that goal. The time has come for the people of Cuba. We pray that God will grant you wisdom and courage to face the historical challenges ahead.
 

Most respectfully yours,

Ariel Abelairas, Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Bruno Barreiro, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Prisca Barreto, Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Cesar Blanes, Commissioner City of West Miami
Juan Blanes, Commissioner City of West Miami
Jose Bergouignan, Jr. Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Frank Bolaños, Miami Dade County Public Schools
Esteban Bovo, Jr. Councilman City of Hialeah
Rafael Cabrera, Jr. Commissioner City of Coral Gables
Velia Yedra Chruszcz, Mayor City of West Miami
Yioset De La Cruz, Mayor City of Hialeah Gardens
Jose Diaz, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Jose M. Diaz, Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Manuel Duasso, Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Luciano Garcia, Councilman City of Hialeah Gardens
Eduardo Gonzalez, Councilman City of Hialeah
Jose Manuel Guerra, Commissioner City of Sweetwater
Jorge Gutierrez, Councilman City of Hialeah Gardens
Orlando Lopez, Commissioner of Sweetwater
Joe Martinez, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Jorge Merida, Councilman City of Hialeah Gardens
Manuel Marono, Mayor City of Sweetwater
Eduardo Muhina, Commissioner City of West Miami
Julio Ponce, Councilman City of Hialeah
Tomas Regalado, Commissioner City of Miami
Julio Robaina, Councilman City of Hialeah
Joe Sanchez, Commissioner City of Miami
Luciano Suarez, Commissioner City of West Miami
Natasha Seijas, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Rebeca Sosa, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Javier Souto, Miami Dade County Commissioner
Jose Yedra, Councilman City of Hialeah
Manuel Zardon, Councilman City of Hialeah Gardens
Guillermo Zuniga, Councilman City of Hialeah