12131: Miami Times Front Page - 22 mei 2002 (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JOSE PEREZ <miamitimesperez@hotmail.com>

Presidential visit inflames Miami’s emotions

The Miami Times

Monday, May 20 was a very Miami-day.While Cuban-Americans reveled in the
glow of presidential courtship, Haitian-Americans raged against governmental
discrimination. All of the cheering and chanting, applause and protesting
marked the different views of many Miamians on the job being done by
President George W. Bush. Collective Cuban endorsement of the president’s
renewed anti-Castro policies was matched by a collective Haitian indictment
of the president’s continued tacit approval of anti-Haitian actions.
“We are tired of being ignored,” said Dina Paul Parks, executive director of
the New York-based National Coalition of Haitian Rights at a protest held
just blocks away from a $25,000-a-plate fund-raising dinner attended by the
president. “We are tired of being told that our claims are not valid.”

The protest, which was held at Ingrahm Park in Coconut Grove, was sparsely
attended. Many of the individuals trying to access the park were turned away
by a roadblock that cut off access to LeJuene Road which is the only main
thoroughfare to the park.

Conversely, the president’s speech at the James L. Knight Center downtown
was held in front of a capacity crowd. Officials for Metro-Dade Transit said
that forty buses were chartered specifically to shuttle the thousands of
mostly Cuban Bush supporters to the by-invation-only pep rally style event.

In addition to the scores of Cuban-Americans at the Knight Center, a
veritable who’s who of political figures of local significance were in
attendance. Among the officials present were Senators Bob Graham and Bill
Nelson, Congresspersons Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros, Miami-Dade
County Mayor Alex Penelas, North Miami Mayor Josephat Celéstin, Governor Jeb
Bush, and Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich.
After addressing the boisterous crowd in spanish, Governor Bush introduced
the president. The president focused his speech on Fidel Castro but did make
some comments that were of interest to the growing number of supporters for
the jailed Haitians.

For example, in one segment of his speech, Bush said that Cuba was alone in
the Americas because “every nation in our hemisphere has chosen the path of
democracy.”

That comment raised eye-brows among individuals monitoring the ongoing Bush
administration embargo against Haiti. The embargo has been enacted by the
Bush administration because of the current political crisis in Haiti
surrounding the disputed election results of two years ago.

The exclusive focus on the concerns of Miami-Dade’s Cuban community was a
source of great frustration for many. “Cubans are not the only residents of
this county,” said Marleine Bastien, executive director for the Haitian
Women of Miami.

Many of the protesters expressed their intentions to tie governmental
inaction to electoral support or lack thereof in the upcoming elections,
which include the gubenatorial race. “Until there is no justice,” said
immigration attorney Cheryl Little, “there will be no vote for the Bushes.”
The Miami Times has been told that there could be some progress in the
future. Celéstin stated that Florida GOP chief Al Cardenas was expected to
go to Washington sometime next week to address the refugee issue. The
objective is to “arrange a meeting” with INS to “express the concerns that
we have,” said Celéstin.

Adding to the tension for the many advocates of the Haitian refugees was the
decision late last week by U.S. District Judge Joan A. Lenard to dismiss the
class action lawsuit filed earlier this year against INS and the Justice
Department on behalf of the detainees. Parks said “it has gotten harder but
we’re not going to give up.”

Nelson was asked about the letter he recently sent to INS chief Jim Ziglar
in “an attempt to address [the] discrimination and legal issues” concerning
the detainees. “He basically blew me off,” said Nelson of Ziglar’s
unwillingness to see him. The senator stated that Ziglar said that he could
not talk about the refugees while the lawsuit was pending. With the recent
dismissal of the suit, Nelson has threatened to call Ziglar before a
congressional committee to address the issues involved.

Supporters of the Haitian refugees are hopeful that additional public and
governmental attention will be paid to the issue.

“All we want is a fair chance,” said Parks.

José Pérez
Writer / Photographer
MIAMI TIMES
305 694 6216
305 757 5770 fax


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