1655-3 African American/Black Boycott Copyright (C) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Thursday, June 28, 1990 EDITION: STATE
SECTION: TRSR CST PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 55 lines
ILLUSTRATION: photo: Laurie and Kellie Sneed greet Gov. Bob MARTINEZ
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: JOE CRANKSHAW Herald Staff Writer
DATELINE: PORT ST. LUCIE
MEMO: also ran plm bch
MARTINEZ CRITICIZES
MANDELA COMMENTS
Nelson Mandela may have been welcomed to the United States by President
Bush, but he won't get an official greeting to Florida from Gov. Bob Martinez.
The governor also was mute on the actions of Miami Mayor Xavier Suarez
and members of the Miami City Commission, who balked at issuing a resolution
honoring Mandela. "I don't get involved in local governments' activities, "
Martinez said Wednesday during a re-election campaign swing through the
Treasure Coast.
Martinez did comment on the controversy Mandela's visit to South Florida
has sparked.
"I believe Mandela misspoke when he praised Castro and Gadhafi, " Martinez
said to the media before addressing about 150 supporters at Johnny's Corner
Restaurant. "I believe he has to understand he has to stand up for freedom
everywhere. You don't praise any dictator. He praised a dictator who has made
a million people exiles in South Florida and you can't blame them for being
upset."
Mandela has thanked Castro for Cuba's support of the African National
Congress, which is fighting apartheid in South Africa. Asked if he would
officially welcome Mandela as Florida's governor, Martinez ignored the
question.
Graham Gilletta, Martinez' aide traveling with the campaign party, said
the governor was never asked to be involved in Mandela's brief South Florida
visit today.
Martinez "was never a part of the effort to bring Mandela to Florida and
has no official reason to welcome him, " Gilletta said.
Treasure Coast educators got a message from the governor during his
visit.
"I think the education budget we passed was excellent, " Martinez said.
When told St. Lucie County educators face a sizable cutback and are unhappy,
he said: "They need to learn to
put those dollars into classrooms and get control of their spending. Too much
is being spent outside classrooms.';
Martinez was met by a group of children from the Thunderbird Summer
Camp of the St. Lucie County YMCA. He left the luncheon, sponsored by the Port
St. Lucie Exchange Club and the Civic Coalition of St. Lucie County, to talk
with the youngsters, who were sipping cold drinks in the restaurant.
"You have to learn to work together, " the governor told the children.
"That is what life is all about. . . "
During his speech, Martinez told the crowd he is dealing with issues such
as crime, pollution and education, and wants to do it for four more years. He
also said he wants to debate the Democratic nominee on the issues "so the
people can see who has the best solutions. "
KEYWORDS: MARTINEZ REACTION MANDELA TRIP
TAG: 9002120228
ACLU SHUNS MIAMI, 12/03/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Monday, December 3, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 45 lines
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: PETER WHORISKEY Herald Staff Writer
ACLU SHUNS MIAMI,
MOVES CONVENTION
NORTH TO HOLLYWOOD
An American Civil Liberties Union search for warm sands and a politically
sympathetic climate has ended with an improbable twist -- in Hollywood.
The group had reserved space at the Eden Roc Hotel in Miami Beach, but
the- convention boycott in Dade County prompted ACLU members to cancel. The
self-proclaimed champions of free speech then opted for Hollywood, a city some
card-carrying members have described as a citadel of censorship.
"Basically we were just looking for someplace warm with a beach, " said
Mary Jane DeFrank, executive director of the ACLU of the National Capital
Area, who said she didn't know a thing about Hollywood. "Well, I think it is
ironic. It's hard being a civil libertarian sometimes. "
Black leaders organized the boycott in Dade after local officials failed
to extend a formal welcome to anti-apartheid leader Nelson Mandela in June.
Members of an ACLU steering committee agreed to honor the boycott and three
weeks ago settled on the Hollywood Beach Hilton as an alternate. About 150
people, staff members of affiliates nationwide and their relatives, are
expected to attend the February convention.
Hollywood has been the epicenter of freedom-of-expression controversies
lately: The ACLU challenged the city's placement of a Bible in Young Circle
Park in May. Sheriff's deputies arrested 2 Live Crew band members for an
allegedly obscene performance at a nightclub in June. The mayor persuaded a
motel owner to cover up the nude buttocks on an outside mural in July. City
leaders forbade lingerie shows at the public golf course's restaurant in
November.
"Broward County has been a bastion of censorship, " said Bruce Rogow, the
Nova University law professor who successfully defended 2 Live Crew members in
court. "But if you're too ideological, you'll never have any place to go."
While ACLU members talked freely of the decision to honor the Dade County
boycott, some became skittish when discussing the selection of Hollywood.
Steve Bates, executive director of the South Carolina ACLU, refused to
say whether the choice of Hollywood surprised him but said Hollywood's First
Amendment climate had not been discussed.
"Those issues did not enter into the decision-making process, " Bates
said. "I'm just going to leave it at that. I'm sorry. "
KEYWORDS: PROTEST DECISION MD GROUP
TAG: 9003200360
64 of 567, 4 Terms
mh90 SUAREZ, 4 OTHERS DENOUNCE MANDELA 06/26/1990
THE MIAMI HERALD
Copyright (c) 1990, The Miami Herald
DATE: Tuesday, June 26, 1990 EDITION: FINAL
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: 1B LENGTH: 69 lines
SOURCE/CREDIT LINE: SANDRA DIBBLE AND CARL GOLDFARB Herald Staff Writers
SUAREZ, 4 OTHERS DENOUNCE MANDELA
Five Cuban American mayors in Dade County, including the leaders of Dade's
two largest cities, jointly denounced Nelson Mandela on Monday for his failure
to condemn human-rights violations in Cuba.
Their condemnation came just two days before the South African
anti-apartheid leader's scheduled arrival in Miami and amid growing political
rifts over whether community leaders should applaud Mandela's work against
apartheid or rebuke him for his support of Cuban President Fidel Castro,
Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat and Libyan President
Moammar Gadhafi.
In Miami, city commissioners tried to distance themselves
from a controversial June 7 resolution honoring Mandela. The commissioners'
backtracking in turn has angered black leaders.
"I would like to see when Mandela steps off that plane that he gets the
red carpet treatment, " said Johnnie McMillian, Miami-Dade chapter president of
the NAACP. She called the waffling "a slap in the face" to Miami's black
community.
The mayors' declaration was signed by Xavier Suarez of Miami, Julio
Martinez of Hialeah, Pedro Reboredo of West Miami, Jose Rivero of Sweetwater
and Gilda Oliveros of Hialeah Gardens.
"We, Cuban Americans, find it beyond reasonable comprehension that Mr.
Nelson Mandela, a victim of oppression by his own government, not only fails
to condemn the Cuban government for its human-rights violations, but rather
praises virtues of the tyrannical Castro regime."
The four-paragraph statement, which congratulates "Mr. Mandela on his
newly acquired freedom" also asks for the release of anti-Castro activist
Orlando Bosch, being held in federal prison while the U.S. government seeks
his deportation.
The mayors' declaration came two days before Mandela's scheduled arrival
in Miamito speak before members of the American Federation of State, County
and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) . He is expected to arrive late Wednesday and
address the union Thursday morning at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
The Miami Commission's resolution -- signed by Suarez and all the
commissioners except Miriam Alonso -- honors Mandela as "a champion of human
rights in his country."
What was a routine honor for a visiting dignitary has become a delicate
political problem for Miami commissioners as reaction to Mandela's visit
heated up. The situation is particularly delicate for Commissioner Miller
Dawkins. He is the only black on the commission, but his re-election campaign
last year was funded largely by Cuban American contributors.
The resolution, intended to be delivered to Mandela, now floats in
limbo. Dawkins initiated the resolution but says it can't be given to Mandela
because Alonso refused to sign it.
The resolution was signed by the commissioners individually and never
came before the commission for a vote. Suarez and Commissioner Victor De Yurre
withdrew their support for it after Mandela appeared on national television
last week and defended his support for Gadhafi, Castro and Arafat.
Dawkins said he would not miss part of Thursday's
commission meeting to attend Mandela's speech.
"If I had a private conference with him, I would probably go, " Dawkins
said. Suarez said Monday he spent the day talking with Cuban, black and
Jewish leaders trying to draft a broader statement to Mandela -- making
reference to his views on Gadhafi, Castro and Arafat -- which they could all
agree on.
Meanwhile, Suarez's comments last week that he would find it "difficult
to give him any kind of recognition" angered several black leaders.
"He has no right on behalf of the people of Miami to repudiate a
welcome, " said George Knox, who has been trying to organize a welcome for
Mandela. "If he does it, it's a direct, palpable insult to the black
community."
KEYWORDS: MANDELA REACTION SUAREZ TRIP MD QUOTE CASTRO
TAG: 9002110750
345 of 567, 29 Terms
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