Schism in Cuban American Group

In the latest symptom of deep crisis in Cuban American circles, 18 board members of the community’s most powerful political organization resigned Tuesday, claiming they were being ignored by the leadership.

“To us the democratic principles for which we struggle cannot be compromised, and are more important than any organization,” Horacio Garcia Jr. said. “It is for this reason that we resign from the current Cuban American National Foundation.”

Last month, the Foundation’s spokeswoman, well-known radio personality Ninoska Perez Castellon, also quit, sending shock waves through Miami’s 650,000-member Cuban community. “Sometimes decisions taken in board meetings are not respected,” she said in an interview. “Sometimes decisions are taken by a select few.”

The departures are tantamount to a public repudiation of Foundation chairman Jorge Mas Santos, son of the group’s charismatic founder, the late Jorge Mas Canosa. Neither Mas Santos nor other Foundation officials could be reached for comment Tuesday night.

The immediate cause of the resignations was the controversial decision by Mas Santos to support holding the Latin Grammys in Miami. Opponents of the ceremony, which showcases the best in Spanish-language popular music, contend that it provides an invaluable propaganda forum to Cuban dictator Fidel Castro through the participation of Cuban musicians.

An ordinance used to bar Miami-Dade County from doing any business with Cuba, but it was voided, and the city this year made a successful bid to host the Latin Grammys with public support from Mas Santos.

The Foundation officials who resigned claimed they hadn’t been consulted about the Foundation’s switch in position.

But Cuban American academics who study exile politics say there are much more profound changes afoot in the Foundation than its stance over a musical show. According to Lisandro Perez, director of the Cuban Research Institute at Florida International University, the root cause was the patent failure last year of Cuban Americans to prevent the return by U.S. officials of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to Cuba in the custody of his father.

“The Elian case proved they [the foundation] were not effective,” Perez said. Under Mas Santos and a new executive director, Joe Garcia, the Cuban American National Foundation began quietly embracing some new policies, including a proposal to use U.S. tax money to encourage small-scale private enterprise in Cuba.

For some Cuban-Americans, this is trafficking with the enemy. Perez Castellon accused foundation leaders of lacking the courage to acknowledge openly that they were changing policies. But Garcia, the executive director, countered that the foundation’s goal should not be to gain the support of Cuban Americans, but of all Americans.

“We have to realize that in the American context, if we can’t explain ourselves, we’re doomed,” Garcia said in an interview. “Preaching to the choir is fun. They know when to stand and applaud. But if the church is empty, you and the choir have got a problem.”

Jaime Suchlicki, director of the Institute for Cuban and Cuban-American Studies at the University of Miami, believes one contributing factor to the schism in the foundation may be the lesser stature of Mas Santos when compared with his late father. Younger members may also be more willing to rethink tactics on how to challenge Castro and pave the way for a return to democracy on the island, he said.