|
|
|
|
||
| CANF AND THE ELECTIONS |
Speech
delivered by Camila Ruiz, Director of Government Relations, CANF
At Florida International University town hall meeting: “Cuban Americans on the Eve of the Elections”
Monday,
October 25, 2004
For it’s over twenty-two year history,
The Cuban American National Foundation has been at the forefront of shaping U.S.
policy toward Cuba. The Foundation
has been instrumental in the development of landmark legislation including the
Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, the LIBERTAD or Helms Burton Act of 1996, and the
creation of Radio and Television Marti. We have battled against congressional efforts to lift
economic sanctions against the Cuban regime while urging the Congress to pass
measures in support of the Cuban people, and in particular, the dissident
movement. We have not only taken
the issue of Cuba to the halls of Congress and the White House, but to the
international stage, raising awareness around the world about Cuba’s appalling
human right practices, making the case to foreign governments and international
institutions. Wherever and whenever
the issue of Cuba is mentioned, the Cuban American National Foundation has made
its presence felt.
The Foundation has been extremely
successful because it has been seen as a source of objective and reliable
information on Cuba. It has gained
influence as a lobbying force because it has followed the formula of other
successful ethnic interest groups like the American Israel Pubic Affairs
Committee (or AIPAC) who do not tie themselves to party loyalties but support
those who share similar ideologies on a given issue, and those who actively
support measures to further their policy agendas. Our support, and in a broader sense the support of the Cuban
exile community, has been contingent upon the answer to one question:
“What will you do to help us bring freedom and democracy to
Cuba?” and not: “Which
party do you represent?”
It was late founder and Chairman, Jorge
Mas Canosa himself who so eloquently delineated this policy in a speech May 20th
of 1982: “The Cuban American
National Foundation is not partisan, it is patriotic.
The Foundation is not Republican, nor Democrat, the Foundation was
conceived with the purpose of defending the highest ideals of Cuba and the
United States.” Ten years later he restated this important message in a radio
interview when asked to comment on that year’s Presidential election: “We
Cubans cannot let them pigeonhole us into one party.
Cuba is above any party or political affiliations.
I have a sense of loyalty to President Bush, I love President Bush, but I
love Cuba more, because on November 3rd whether it is Bush or Clinton
in the White House, we will continue here in exile, and Cuba will continue to be
enslaved and we will still have to knock on doors so that they may open, and
find new roads and solutions to the Cuban problem.”
And so it is precisely in abiding by
this cardinal rule, formulated by a group of men and women whose primary
dedication was to the cause of Cuban freedom, that our organization has on
occasion come under attack, sometimes from those who are well intentioned, and
sometimes by those who’d rather focus and criticize our differences in
approach rather than channeling that same energy to work towards our mutual
goal.
It has never been our ambition to win a
popularity contest, but instead to win the fight against totalitarianism and
oppression, to give a voice to those who Fidel Castro has attempted to silence.
Our criticisms against political candidates or office holders, if we have
made them in the past or will make them in the future, have nothing to do with
personal likes or dislikes or individual political interests.
If we have had to criticize or push it
is because for the Cuban American National Foundation, Cuba’s freedom is
non-negotiable, and because it is our primary duty to keep Cuba on the minds of
policy makers, for Cuba to remain part of this country’s foreign policy agenda
and for our nation’s leaders to act in furtherance of that agenda.
It is critical that we not allow any political party to take our vote for
granted, that we are not relegated to the status other ethnic groups who are
perceived to be strict supporters of one party over another, it is there where
we’d risk to lose much of the influence we now enjoy.
Cuban
exiles perhaps have a special appreciation for the democratic electoral process,
in part because it has been denied our families in Cuba for over 44 years.
Statistics show that our community registers and votes at impressive
levels. Voter registration among Cuban Americans in the 2000 election
was at almost 71% for those 18 to 30, higher than the rate of White,
non-Hispanics, and at 81% for those 31 and older.
Of that, in the 18-30 category, 50% voted on election-day and 72.6% voted
in the 31 and older range. This
fact has not been lost on either party. I
think we can evidence this by the fact that both campaigns have spent enormous
resources and time in this community in the weeks leading up to the election.
Radio and television programming are more frequently interrupted by
political ads appealing to the Cuban American community, both President Bush and
Senator Kerry have visited the state dozens of times since the campaign began
and have sent many of their surrogates here to deliver their respective
messages.
For each of us, our choice on November 2nd
will be based on a variety of issues that affect us directly as citizens of this
great country, for some it will be more about tax cuts or education, health care
or the economy, the war against terrorism or our role in Iraq and Afghanistan,
but for the Cuban American National Foundation, as an organization, the question
will be who provides the most credible, substantive, proactive policy that will
help precipitate a peaceful, democratic transition in Cuba.
To send this page by e-mail follow these steps:
1- CLICK HERE to open a new windows.
2- Write the e-mail address in the blank.
3- Push SEND THIS URL buttom.
|
HOME |
