Latino Group to Boycott Visit by Bush’s Son

Upset over being left out of the planning for a meeting in San Diego over Latino issues with Vice President George Bush’s son, some local Latino leaders plan to boycott today’s event to dramatize their belief that, as one put it, “Bush and the Republicans still have a long way to go” to attract Latino votes.

Nicholas Britto, chairman of the San Diego Republican Hispanic Assembly, said that his 75-member group will boycott Jeb Bush’s appearance to protest what Britto termed organizers’ “inexcusable mistake” of excluding Latinos from the planning of the meeting.

“To not have Hispanics involved in putting together an Hispanic event is ridiculous,” said Britto, who also is president of the Cuban-American Political Assn. “If Republicans want Hispanic votes to help them win the White House, they’d better start waking up.”

The invitation to the hourlong meeting, sent to more than 500 Latino leaders, was signed by three San Diego businessmen--all non-Latinos--and is being sponsored by the Golden Eagle Club, an organization of major GOP donors. A press release announcing the meeting says that young Bush--who is fluent in Spanish, is married to a Latina and has a master’s degree in Latin American studies--has “given Vice President Bush a direct link to the Mexican-American community.”

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Tom Stickel, Bush’s San Diego County chairman, accepted the blame for the dispute, saying that he “should have had the intelligence or instinct . . . to bring Hispanic leaders in at an earlier stage.”

“Not in the form of an excuse but an explanation, I’d also point out that in presidential campaigns, you don’t often have a lot of lead time in planning events,” Stickel said. “When we heard that Jeb Bush could come here, we had the invitations out within 24 hours. Still, that doesn’t excuse the blunder. It shouldn’t have happened. It was my mistake.”

The gaffe, Britto said, exacerbated local Latinos’ displeasure over the fact that no Latinos were selected from San Diego to attend next week’s Republican National Convention in New Orleans. An estimated 450,000 Latinos reside in San Diego County.

“When you look at how badly they blew this, and then see that there’s not a single Hispanic delegate from here, it’s a tremendous betrayal of all we’ve done over the last eight years,” Britto said.

In part to alleviate concerns raised by the flap, Stickel met with about a dozen local Latino leaders Tuesday to discuss their involvement in the Bush campaign. Britto, however, was not appeased by that gesture.

“We’re not going to wave the flag any time they want,” Britto said. “We’re still Republicans, but we’re not going to allow ourselves to be taken advantage of like that.”