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Defending Fragile Free Speech in Miami
Here we go again! The ACLU is once again defending freedom of speech in the often bitter battles in South Florida over Cuba, Fidel Castro and relations between Cuba and the United States.
This time the ACLU will be defending the Cuban Committee for Democracy, which was sued last month for distributing invitations to a conference dealing with U.S. Policy towards Cuba, sponsored by the Washingtonbased Center For International Policy. The conference invitation contained a false statement about the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF).
Many of those participating in the conference, "Miami and US Cuba Policy: A New Look," have called for a dialogue between the governments of the United States and Cuba and the lifting of the embargo on the sale of food and medicine.
The invitation to the conference stated: "There have been dramatic developments in Miami and in Havana over the past year, developments which may over time, open the way to changes in U.S. policy toward Cuba." The invitation also noted the visit of Pope John Paul II to Cuba in January, during which he "called upon the CubanAmerican community in the United States to drop its traditional posture of hostility and confrontation toward the government in Havana and to assume an attitude of reconciliation and dialogue."
The conference announcement noted the "leadership vacuum" caused by the death of Jorge Mas Canosa, former leader of the Foundation. Panel discussions were to include such issues as the Church's role in bringing about change, whether freedom of expression and tolerance for different viewpoints has increased in Miami, and the views of the AfroCuban community.
The conference brochure incorrectly stated: "The Foundation also suffered a number of indictments for violation of neutrality laws and involvement in planned terrorist acts."
In fact, the CANF has not been indicted. Press accounts reported that in August the federal government indicted two CANF members, one of whom sits on the Foundation's executive committee, who were apprehended by the Coast Guard off Puerto Rico. They were charged with being part of a plot to allegedly assassinate Cuban President Fidel Castro in 1997.
Citing the sentence above as "false and defamatory," the CANF sued the Center for International Policy, its executive director and a senior fellow. But the CANF also selectively sued Miami attorney Alfredo Duran, Bay of Pigs veteran and longtime CANF adversary, and the Cuban Committee for Democracy, whose only "offense" consisted of distributing the conference invitation to its members.
The CANF chose not to sue other conference participants, including Bishop Thomas Wenski and Rev. Msrg. Byran Walsh of the Archdiocese of Miami, Miami Herald columnist Robert Steinback, Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, President of Barry University, or attorney John de Leon, Chair of the Miami Chapter of the ACLU.
"If you follow the logic of this case," said the ACLU's de Leon, "the owner of a bookstore would have to screen every book and magazine in their possession for accuracy before being able to circulate or sell it without fear of lawsuit. That would definitely chill freedom of expression."
"What this lawsuit does," de Leon added, "is discourage small organizations from distributing materials on matters of public controversy."
The ACLU Miami Chapter, with the assistance of prominent attorneys Ira Kurzban and Bruce Rogow, has agreed to defend the Cuban Committee for Democracy.
The ACLU of Florida has been in the center of a number of similar controversies involving free speech in Miami, combating intolerance of dissent on the passionate issues relating to Cuba. Sadly, freedom of speech is often the first thing to be sacrificed in the midst of controversy.
In 1991, the City of Miami refused to renew the lease of the Cuban Museum of Arts and Culture because the museum had organized an exhibit of Cuban nationalist art. An ACLU lawsuit brought on behalf of the museum resulted in a federal district court ruling that the City's actions were unconstitutional.
In 1996, members of the Cuban exile community attempted to prevent Cuban singer Rosita Fornes from performing in Miami because she had not publicly denounced Castro. The Centro Vasco Restaurant was bombed in connection with her scheduled performance. When a Miami Beach theater barred Fornes from advertising on its marquee and required her to post a bond to cover the deductible on fire insurance conditions imposed on no other performer and which clearly contributed to a suppression of freedom of speech the ACLU of Florida stepped in. Ultimately, economic pressures forced promoters to cancel her performance.
Also in 1996, internationally renowned Cuban jazz musician Gonzalo Rubacalba was the target of an organized protest because he, too, had not formally denounced Castro. Protesters gathered outside Gusman Hall, spitting on and physically assault concert goers.
The ACLU of Florida is still in court defending the 1997 firing of Dade County Advisory Board member Peggi McKinley after she questioned the economic impact of the County's ordinance banning business contacts with Cuba.
The ACLU helped the Cuban exile and human rights group Democracy Movement recover its boat which it uses in its symbolic flotillas. But the current case defending the Cuban Committee for Democracy, as well as the earlier cases, illustrates the fragile health of the First Amendment in South Florida due to the difficulty of expressing views on Cuba that differ from those of the powerful organizations of the exile community.
