Home » About » Newsletters » October 2001
"Despite Compromise Over Protest Site,
Latin Grammy Organizers Leave Miami"
By Randall Marshall
Legal Director
In an ironic twist that is quintessentially ACLU, we represented 134 organizations of Cuban exiles and former political prisoners to ensure their right to protest in a meaningful way at the Latin Grammy Award presentation that was scheduled last month in Miami.
The irony is that it was the ACLU that made it possible for the Latin Grammys to come to Miami through its successful legal challenge of the Miami-Dade County "Cuba Ordinance," which prohibited anyone who did business, directly or indirectly, with Cuba from utilizing county facilities or services. The ACLU of Florida also ensured that the Cuban band Los Van Van was able to perform in Miami, despite efforts by local politicians to prevent them from performing.
As the Latin Grammys approached, the exile organizations, under the name "Bloque Presidio Politico Cubano" ("Cuban Political Prisoners Bloc"), sought a permit from the City of Miami in order to demonstrate outside of the American Airlines Arena the night of the award ceremony. Upon finding that the Miami Police Department had agreed to a two-block "security zone" around the arena — placing the protestors some 900 feet away from the main entrance — and feeling like they were getting the run around from City officials, the exile organizations asked the ACLU to defend their First Amendment right to protest.
Ironically, the individual who contacted ACLU Miami Chapter President Lida Rodriguez-Taseff had debated her last year over the constitutionality of the Cuba Ordinance and Los Van Van's appearance in Miami; having been debated to a standstill on the issue, he decided to test the ACLU's firm stand on the First Amendment and sought our help.
On Friday morning, August 17, we requested a meeting with City officials and Arena personnel. That evening, in a three-hour meeting, we hammered out a proposed compromise that would place protestors in front of the "Freedom Tower" (a building with great historical significance to Cuban refugees coming to Miami — essentially a Cuban "Ellis Island") across from a corner of the Arena but still 250 feet away from the main entrance. The Mayor, who had been so adamant about Los Van Van was now on record as recognizing the First Amendment rights of both the Grammy promoters and the Cuban exile organizations. The proposal was contingent upon the acceptance by the Bloque Presidio Politico Cubano. At a meeting scheduled Sunday afternoon, ACLU leaders presented the compromise to an overflow crowd at La Casa del Preso ("The House of the Prisoner") in Little Havana where it was unanimously accepted after a healthy, and robust, question and answer session.
The next day, without discussion or negotiation, the Latin Grammy organizers announced that they were taking the show to Los Angeles. Having made it possible for the Grammys to come to Miami, we were very disappointed to see them pick up and go away. However, it is abundantly clear to us that their leaving had nothing to do with safety concerns. Rather, the promoters wanted a sanitized TV image to be broadcast to the world — the protesters did not fit into that image.
While much has been written about this episode, and despite all the fingerpointing, few questioned the role of the ACLU in representing the Cuban exile organizations. We think this was an extraordinary lesson in the First Amendment.
Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, Greater Miami Chapter chair, Rosalind Matos, South Florida Staff Counsel, Oscar Sanchez (cooperating attorney in Los Van Van efforts), Randall Marshall, and Howard Simon participated in the negotiations.
