Cuba controversy sparks political fracas in Miami Beach

Cuba controversy sparks political fracas in Miami Beach

Mayor Philip Levine says he would welcome a Cuban consulate in Miami Beach
When another commissioner wants city to take stance against a consulate,
mayor accuses him of playing politics
Issue will be discussed at Wednesday's City Commission meeting.

BY JOEY FLECHAS
jflechas@miamiherald.com

As relations between the U.S. and Cuba continue to change, Miami Beach
has emerged as an unexpected flashpoint, while the foreign relations
controversy is morphing into a political scuffle among some of the
city's elected officials.

The suggestion that the Beach could welcome a Cuban consulate has drawn
passionate responses from both unhappy and supportive Cuban Americans.
Mayor Philip Levine and Commissioner Ricky Arriola, who is the son of
exiles who emigrated in 1960, sparked the conversation when they
traveled to the island nation in late March and expressed their openness
to the idea in a private meeting with Cuban government officials.

The U.S. State Department says Cuba has not asked about opening a
consulate anywhere. No matter. The issue continues to be discussed in
Miami-Dade, where another debate is expected at Wednesday's Miami Beach
City Commission meeting.

Since Levine and Arriola's trip, anti-consulate protesters have
demonstrated outside City Hall. The city's citizen Hispanic Affairs
Committee urged the City Commission to take a formal stance against a
consulate after hearing hours of testimony from several detractors and a
handful of exiles who want to see it happen.

Levine has maintained that he wants the city to be more in line with
President Barack Obama and his administration's approach to Cuba. He
insisted they only spoke in broad terms about the possibility of a
consulate.

"The idea of a consulate — that was never offered us, it was merely a
conversation," he told the Miami Herald. "On a personal level, I would
personally welcome the consulate. That conversation is very different
from soliciting or being offered a consulate."

Levine's and Arriola's days in Havana, as part of a Levine-sponsored
trip for Tufts University graduate students, were well-publicized and
documented. With political adviser Christian Ulvert in tow, Levine
shared updates on social media and spoke to the press, boasting that he
was the first head of a city in Miami-Dade County to go to Cuba since
before the revolution.

Days after returning and holding a press conference to share his support
for a Cuban consulate in Miami Beach, he bristled at criticism from
exiles in Miami-Dade and said he hadn't received any complaints. When
Commissioner Michael Grieco placed an item on Wednesday's commission
agenda reaffirming the city's long-standing opposition to having any
kind of a relationship with Cuba, Levine called Grieco an opportunist
who wants to tee up a run for mayor.

"The only reason this has happened is because you have a commissioner
who is trying to use this as a political ploy because he would like to
run for mayor, prematurely," he said. "And he believes he can get the
Cuban vote by appealing to their deepest level of fear and insecurity.
Which is cruel. Especially when he's not Cuban."

On Tuesday, Grieco responded by saying he looked forward to Wednesday's
discussion.

"My motivation in sponsoring the resolution is simply to represent my
constituents and give them a voice," he said. "It is unfortunate that
this unnecessary controversy has been thrust upon our city and thousands
of our fellow neighbors have been insulted and disregarded in the
process. I look forward to a public debate on this issue during the
commission meeting."

Political onlookers have long suspected that Levine, a wealthy
businessman who made his fortune in cruise ship media, has his sights
set on higher office himself. The mayor has insisted he wishes to remain
in the Beach, though he has steadily raised his national profile through
the Cuba trip and frequent flights to primary states in recent months,
where he has stumped for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary
Clinton. He's become a regular on cable news talk shows to talk
Democratic politics.

Back at Beach City Hall, his colleagues found out about Levine and
Arriola's sit-down with Cuban officials through news media. Commissioner
John Elizabeth Alemán said she believed a consulate would come with
increased security risks and traffic.

"What I think it would do is it would bring divisiveness into our city,"
she said. "It's difficult to imagine any positive impact, but it would
certainly bring a negative impact."

Alemán is co-sponsoring Grieco's resolution.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told the Miami
Herald there have been no discussions with the Cuban government about
establishing additional consulates either in the United States or in
Cuba. Foreign governments must get permission from the State Department
to open consulates in the U.S.

Since Obama's first announcement of the normalization of ties with Cuba
in December 2014, public opinion appears to be divided along
generational lines, with hard-line opinions held by older Cuban
Republicans. Politico recently reported the results of a poll of 300
Miami Beach residents on Cuba policy, which included a question on the
location of a Cuban consulate. Forty-six percent chose Miami-Dade
County, 28 percent said nowhere in Florida, 24 percent didn't know or
refused to answer, and 2 percent said the Tampa Bay area.

The website reported the poll was done by an unnamed corporate client.

Arriola, the Miami-born son of former Miami City Manager Joe Arriola,
had traveled to Cuba twice before his recent election to the Beach
commission. He will return again in a few weeks as part of the
President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities.

Citing a personal connection to the issue, he said he feels a consulate
in Miami-Dade should at least be discussed in anticipation of increased
travel to Cuba and a possible demand for access to the Cuban government
from local Cubans who want to go back to visit loved ones.

"What we invited was the essence of the American way, which is the idea
to talk and engage," Arriola told a room full of displeased exiles at
Monday night's Hispanic Affairs Committee meeting. "Just simply to talk."

Joey Flechas: 305-376-3602, @joeflech

Source: Cuba controversy sparks political fracas in Miami Beach | Miami
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