For Miami, Summit Is a Chance to Show Its Stuff

With leaders of 33 foreign countries planning to be present, the Summit of the Americas promises to be a huge international event. But on the eve of the historic weekend conference hosted by President Clinton, the stakes for Miami may loom even larger.

“It’s a big, big show, a celebration for Miami and a chance for the city to clean up its image,” said Eduardo A. Gamarra, acting director of the Latin American and Caribbean Center at Florida International University. “What Miami can do is demonstrate its political maturity, transcend exile politics and show that the city can indeed be the site of one of these international meetings.”

In a metropolitan area routinely ablaze with impassioned Cuban exile politics, and just this week ranked again by the FBI as No. 1 in the nation in violent crime, summit planners are praying that all international incidents are confined to the official meeting rooms.

If not, the world will know. More than 4,500 journalists are expected to be on hand to record and analyze every word and gesture of the presidents and prime ministers, as well as those uttered by scores of top diplomats and U.S. officials.

In terms of media attention, even the Super Bowl--which, incidentally, takes place here Jan. 29--pales.

Miami was picked as the summit site after intensive lobbying from, among others, Florida Gov. Lawton Chiles and Miami lawyer Hugh Rodham, the President’s brother-in-law and an unsuccessful Senate candidate. The also-rans: Los Angeles and Chicago.

The prestige of hosting the first such summit in 27 years--and the first in the United States--could not only burnish Miami’s image as the commercial gateway to Latin America, but provide a positive jolt to South Florida’s sagging tourist economy. Dade County’s poshest hotels, finest caterers and biggest limousine services have been booked solid for months.

Security will be intense. Besides local police, more than 1,000 U.S. Secret Service agents, along with up to 4,000 other law enforcement officers from the FBI, U.S. Marshals Service and even Florida National Guard troops, will be mobilized. Included in those ranks will be rooftop sharpshooters, SWAT teams and frogmen.

“We had the Pope a few years ago (Pope John Paul II, in 1987), and the hurricane (Andrew, 1992), but this is without doubt the largest security effort ever,” said Pat Brickman, a spokesman for Metro-Dade’s 2,900-member police force, which switched to 12-hour shifts Thursday before Clinton’s arrival.

The costs of hosting the summit are enormous. Dade County officials say police overtime alone could top $2.5 million. The city of Miami expects to spend $800,000 on police overtime and supplies. Miami, Coral Gables and the county already have spent $15 million to plant 20,000 trees and repave 240 miles of roadway over which the prime ministers and presidents will be chauffeured from one gala to another.

Each of the 34 national leaders will go home with a bagful of gifts, including nine Swatch watches, a sterling silver paperweight, an art deco ceramic pot, a leather-bound journal from Tiffany and a $400 crystal globe in a Brazilian wood presentation box.

Miami Beach has budgeted $130,000 just to throw a welcome party Thursday for the working journalists.

Of course, there will be several political demonstrations. The largest promises to be what is billed as a “silent march” of Cuban exiles Saturday through the streets of Little Havana to the Orange Bowl, where up to 100,000 people will listen to anti-Castro speeches.

Art, music and entertainment are on the agenda too. A galaxy of stars, including Tito Puente, Liza Minnelli and Rita Marley are to perform Saturday in a Kennedy Center Gala of the Americas.

Downtown Miami skyscrapers have been spotlighted with a rainbow of colors, while the homeless encampments under nearby freeways have been bulldozed. The occupants have either gone into shelters or scattered.