advertisement

SSN on Facebook SSN on Twitter SSN on YouTube RSS Feed

12 Comments
Nancy Smith

Could Gov. Scott's Position on Cuba Poison Tampa Area for GOP?

July 2, 2015 - 7:30am
I Beg to Differ
I Beg to Differ

President Barack Obama is steaming ahead with his plan to normalize relations with Cuba after announcing Wednesday his plan for the United States and Cuba to open embassies in each other's capital. But hold on -- don't for a minute expect Florida Gov. Rick Scott to climb on board. 

Scott has made it abundantly clear -- as he said in April -- "While the Castro regime continues to work against the freedom of the Cuban people, I will continue to stand in solidarity with the people of Cuba and their pro-democracy movement."

He has never flip-flopped on his insistence that the embargo should still be in place, that Cuba's vile human rights record is unacceptable, and that the island nation subscribes to terrorism.

But there's one problem with all that. A big one to Florida Cuban-Americans.

Every time Scott vilifies communist Cuba, he's taking sides against the Tampa Cubans and for the Miami Cubans. And he's rubbing salt in an old wound. 

The ideological differences between the approach of Tampa and Miami to Havana have never been more apparent, between the Obama administration normalizing relations with the island nation and Rick Scott opposing the process at every opportunity. 

The fact is, the two Cuban communities are deeply divided over the Mother Country. These two communities can't agree on a Cuban sandwich, let alone the acceptance of a new Cuba.

The New York Times' Miami bureau chief Lizette Alvarez wrote an explanatory piece in the Times' May 2 edition, "Going Way Back with Cubans, Tampa Leads Push Forward." It's as good a piece as I've read to explain the differences between the two Cuban-American population centers.

Writes Alvarez of the Ybor City/Tampa area, "While anti-Castro sentiment still runs deep here, it is a more mellow strain, tempered by years of assimilation. Many of the Cubans who came to Tampa did so to find jobs long before the Castro revolution; they routinely traveled back and forth to the island."

Of South Florida, she writes, "By contrast, Miami’s Cuban-Americans thronged to the city fleeing communism. They lost property, relatives and their homeland, which left an angry, bitter taste, one not easily dulled even by the decades."

The Tampa community is eager to lead the way in this Cuba reconnect. Its leaders have been looking forward to an end to the embargo for a long time. In fact, two years ago -- long before Obama made his intentions public -- the city sent a delegation of 38 business and political leaders to Havana to grease the path, to offer their services, get a look at the lay of the land, jump in on the ground floor of normal relations. What they see are economic opportunities that won't quit.

Miami Cubans, on the other hand, believe anyone who tries to cash in on Cuba is betraying other American ideals, like freedom, democracy, and human rights.

The bottom line is, the Tampa-versus-Miami war has been stewing for quite a while. Miami Cubans call Tampa Cubans avaricious and lacking any respect for human rights; Tampa Cubans call Miami Cubans a collection of immature hotheads.

Making the matter worse for Republican candidates and potential Republican candidates along the I-4 corridor, whether he means to or not, is Rick Scott.

"Agriculture is a vital part of our economy in Florida, and lifting the embargo on Cuba does irreparable harm to it," Scott said in a statement while Obama was touring the Everglades on Earth Day. "Importing agricultural products from Cuba could drive down demand for Florida products, open our crops up to invasive pests and species, and give the Castro regime leverage to continue the suppression of their people."

Scott said agriculture has a more than $100 billion impact on the state, and President Barack Obama "should be doing everything he can to support it.

"Sadly, he continues to stand side by side with the Castro regime," Scott said. "I will continue to oppose lifting the embargo, and fight for Florida families, farmers and our agriculture industry."

At the conclusion of her Times story, Alvarez quotes E.J. Salcines, a retired appellate judge and one of Tampa's most high-profile Cuban-American citizens, who backhandedly points to Miami Cubans' immaturity. 

“You can’t ignore a fundamental difference -- that the Cubans in Tampa have gone through a much longer churning, maturing period than the Cubans in Miami,” he says. “Give the Miami Cubans another 50 years, and they might be sounding more like Tampeño Cubans, but they are not there yet.

The governor, however right you or I might think he is on Cuba, may not be making a lot of friends for Republicans around Tampa and Ybor City. We'll soon find out.

Reach Nancy Smith at nsmith@sunshinestatenews.com or at 228-282-2423. Twitter: @NancyLBSmith

Comments

Forget all the polls! THE DONALD will win the GOP nominations. He has the guts to call a spic a spic. Snd them all BACK! Including Jeb's wife and kids!!!

Susan... the perfect example of the Republicant party and why republicants have and will continue to lose power except where they cheat. An ugly racist. A better idea. You go back where your kind came from. I find your type to be pathetic and disgusting!

But I am a Floridian Dean, but quite obviously one not in need of any history lessons from the likes of you; you're too ill-equipped for a chore of THAT magnitude: You must have been "top of YOUR class" I'll wager... ('One room' schoolhouse ?)

Throw everything at the wall and hope something sticks? I point out your BS and your best response s an attack? Pathetic... Oh, BTW, your favorite boatlift happened over 3 decades ago. But then again, truth and facts have no place in your wing-nut world.

Dean, If this is a battle of "wit",...you're only "half" armed. "Mariel" is STILL history Dean (maybe before you were born, or after your 'education' ceased (8th grade?).....but STILL the history of Florida AND America. Better work on the other half of your wit Dean...

Oh WoW! You really are either uninformed, or really arrogant. Guess you have not been following carpetbagger, or seen any previous post. Carpetbagger acts and talks as though it happened recently. Yea... it is hstory. 3 decades old. I said itt was history. What was your whole point other than being rude, arrogant and insulting.

Castro gave us the "Mariel boat lift" criminals; Castro is more than willing to give us more Cuban criminals; Castro, and his remaining criminal family members are STILL IN POWER ! WHAT MORE DO YOU NEED TO KNOW AMERICA ?!?!? (We would however like to get back JoAnne Chesimard, the "Black Liberation" fugitive who fled to Cuba after murdering New York and New Jersey Police officers...There is a ONE MILLION DOLLAR ($1,000,000) reward 'on her head' for her return to American criminal justice).

A $1,000,000.00 reward to send Jeb and his spic wife and his spic kids BACK to Mexico!!!!

Your not being a Floridian is showing. Never heard of "Wet foot, Dry foot"? Under current law, been valid for decades, every Cuban who makes it onto dry land in Florida gets to stay. Unlike the rest of Latinos, Cubans get a free pass.

The habit of government politically regulating and subsidizing established industries to diminish free competition has not reduced costs to consumers, but has the opposite effect. In higher education, energy, mortgage loans, agriculture, insurance, TV cable, but especially in healthcare costs. Forget Medicaid expansion, the real elephant in the room is Cuba and competition as a nearby medical tourism destination. If we don't act quickly to reduce patient costs by at least 50%, Cuba could easily take business away. I'm sure outside investors are already planning and talking to Cuban leaders about this. Patients will simply use their credit cards in Cuba. Fifty years of subsidies have helped fund new healthcare technologies and prescription drugs, but the higher costs are enough, now. It's time to use more generics and public domain tech so costs can be reduced before Cuba enters the ring. Any new tech should be for robots and that's it. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/healthcare_spending

We have diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, a hotbed of terrorism, with Vietnam, where we lost war. We have diplomatic relations with many countries that do not share our values. The 2 countries we do not have dip relations with are Cuba and Iran. Iran may well be nuke capable, thanks to Pakistan, with whom we have dip rel, and may well start WWIII. We have tried the isolation with Cuba, who has dip rel and trades with most countries in our hemisphere. Doing so with Cuba has done no good. While doing so with Iran may be a disaster. The best way to change a country is to visit, to exchange ideas, to talk to people and goverments. It is time to re-new relations with Cuba, NOW! There is hope there. Iran, well, we may well be forced to destroy the country and kill millions of innoncents. Because we do not want to talk with them. BTW... all of those who want want religious laws, Iran is a theocracy, how does it really look to you? A perfect example of the seperation of church and state!

Follow the lead of THE DONALD! He is the only GOP to state the truth: "A spic is a spic!!!"

Comments are now closed.

nancy smith
advertisement
advertisement
Live streaming of WBOB Talk Radio, a Sunshine State News Radio Partner.

advertisement