i heart miami

8/8/2019 I Heart Miami

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I MiamiThe Miami Cuban community



W elcome to Miami!

¡Bienvenidos a Miami!



The first notable presence of Cubans in Miami was after theSpanish-American war in 1892.

Florida residents saw the proximity of Cuba as a doorway to allkinds of commercial possibilities.



The next influx accompanied the fall of Machado in the 1930: both hispolitical and economic cronies [on the right] and student protest leaders[on the left]

The Cuban population grew from severalhundred in 1932 to over 1000.

W hen Machado fell and went into exile, riotsbroke out when some of his ministers and hiswife arrived in Miami.

Some of the aforementioned rivals returned toCuba once he was out of power.



D uring periods of political upheaval, Miami opened itsgates to ex-Cuban officials with money, regardless of their

political beliefs.

A typical example was José Manuel Alemán, afriend and former minister of education official

under Grau San Martín.

Alemán arrived in October 1944 with $20,000,000 in his suitcase.

Scenes such as this symbolized both the corruption that plagued Cubangovernments and the strong economic ties that Miami and Havana wereestablishing as they moved closer together in the 1940s and 50s.



How many lives couldbe saved with whatthat guy stole?



Instead of direct intervention against unfavorable governments,the U.S. usually followed a plan of economic pressure,

combined with military threats and support for exiled politicalgroups.

Miami became a participant in thisdiplomatic formula.

After 1933, with each change in governmentin Cuba, the Cuban population in Miamiincreased to a substantial minority, andeconomic and cultural ties between the twoarea strengthened.



W hen politicians such as Alemán arrived in Miami with millions of dollars,the various mafia-run businesses in Miami provided investment

opportunities that would not scrutinize the origins of the funds.

By the mid 1950s, the D ept. of Commerce reported that investments by Cubancitizens in the United States had reached $400,000,000, and most of thismoney went through Miami.

The tremendous amount of financial activity between Miami and Havana, bothlegal and illegal, solidified their economic relationship.

It also changed the city of Miami radically as people like Meyer Lansky and otherunderworld figures began to play a major role in determining the city s future.



By D ecember of 1958, Castro had taken control of thecountry, and early in the morning of 1 January, 1959, the

first Castro refugees arrived in Miami.

At first. Miamians accepted theappearance of refugees on the eveningnews as rather normal routine. Most of the earliest arrivals had financial or familyconnections and had made plans ahead of time.



Very quickly the hundreds of wealthy eliteturned into desperate and pennilessthousands. At first, the Cuban Community felt

they could handle the problem with the resultthat sometimes there were, according toMonsignor Bryan W alsh, "19 families living in asingle family residence". Of course this was anextreme, but even the average Cuban family inMiami during this period was sharing a tworoom dwelling with two additional adults.

These statistics come from a Cuban

Exile page. Other pages state thatthe new arrivals were decidedlymiddle class.



Miami natives viewed the Cubans as house guests who have worn out theirwelcome. [The Cubans] are a threat to our business and tourist economy. Itwould appear that the hand that holds Miami s torch of friendship has beenoverextended.

In the 1950s and 60s, as refugees poured out of Eastern Europe, Americansinterpreted the phenomenon as proof of the failure of Communism. And when thefederal government noticed similar numbers coming out of Cuba, they institutedpolicies which would encourage continued migration and prove a similar point inthe Caribbean.

Miami quickly became the latest battle front in the Cold W ar, and the refugeeswere seen as heroes.



Local leaders in Miami realized that there were federal monies availablefor anti-communist efforts, and rallied around the Cuban exiles who werenow deemed freedom fighters .

The great infusion of federal dollars, along with the millions of Cubandollars lying dormant in Miami since the 1940s, combined with a vigorous

new Cuban middle class to set off an explosion of entrepreneurial activity.

In 1960 there were 12+ Cuban newspapers, a Cuban theater, aCuban employment agency, and the first Cuban restaurant.

W ithin 2 years, in the area around S W 8th St. between 5 th and 15 th

Aves., 28 shops changed ownership to become Cuban-run.



The other side of this story is that in the late 1950s, Miami was in poor economiccondition. The city had the highest rate of V.A. and F.H.A. foreclosures in thecountry, and 8 th St. was a shabby row of businesses trying to survive in adeteriorating neighborhood.

In 1960, fiscally conservative Republicans contributed $4,000,000 in

benefits to the refugees. By 1961, under the Kennedy administration,expenditures on Cuban refugees increased to $2.4 million a month.



By 1976, over $1.6 billion were injected into the Cuban community by the CubanRefugee Program alone.

The CIA pumped over $100 million into the Cuban community in the early1960s, through front organizations like the Zenith group at the Univ. of Miami.

In addition to paying salaries of commandos who spent their moneyin Miami, the CIA also added a newdimension to the economy, asweapons production and importationbecame a key industry in the area.Miami also provided a ready army forCIA operations throughout theworld.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EizK W ms0l-o&feature=player_embedded

Cubans initially resisted learning English or incorporating themselvesinto Miami society because they saw the Revolution as a temporarystate. W hy bother when in a matter of months they d be goinghome?



The diplomatic and economic assault designed to destroy the Castrorevolution instead strengthened it.

It provided a safety valve for the revolution: Castro didn thave to purge his strongest opponents. He simply letthem go to Miami.

By opening its gates to the middle class, the US was removing from Cubathat segment of the population most necessary for a successfulbourgeois democracy. W ith only true believers, workers, and the less

politically or economically ambitious remaining in Cuba, Communismbecame the only political destiny possible for the island.

Castro used his enemies to expand his own prestige, despitetheir attempts to undermine him.



In the early 1980s, the Cuban-American National Foundation [CANF]became the front runner of all Cuban activist organizations. CANF spresident Jorge Mas-Canosa was praised by former president RonaldReagan as a hard-working patriot serving the interests of the Cuban people.

The US backing, CANF became the major supporting group behind thecreation of Radio and T V Martí.

http://www.martinoticias.com/

From the early 1980s to the present, CANF has gained additional notorietyand is presently one of the strongest lobbying entities in the US. No otherCuban exile organization has ever enjoyed the privileges or triumphsaccomplished by the CANF.

http://www.canf.org/



For many years the Antonio Maceo Brigade, headed byAndrés Gómez, made a stand against the establishedanti-Communist hard-liners. Gómez has always been

perceived as a Cuban government collaborator due tohis actions, and because of his involvement with Areito ,a monthly leftist newspaper.

He has also developed a close relationship

with members of the Haitian community andhe is considered a strong force behind thePathfinder, a local bookstore that caters toliberals and leftists.

http://www.areitodigital.com/



Other prominent groups which have received negative responses from theCuban community include the Cuban Museum of Arts D irectors and UniónLiberal Cubana.

These groups, along with several businessmen and artists,share liberal political views.

The Cuban Museum of Arts is an example of the ongoing disparity among today s Cubanactivist groups. In 1988 the museum auctioned the works of several Cuban painterswho were living on the island and at the time had not broken ties with Castro sgovernment.

A dispute ensued amongst the board of directors of the museum. As aresult of disparaging opinions, several members resigned from the board of directors.

Since the time of the controversial auction, two bombs have exploded at the CubanMuseum of Arts, and the city has tried to invalidate their lease.



Today there are 2 groups of exiles with the same objectives but withvery different ideas on how to achieve that goal.

The older and more established anti-Communist group sees theoverthrow of Castro and his government, and the implementationof a democratic government.

The leaders of these groups have clearly stated thatthe only solution to their problem is an all-out war,preferably with the assistance of the U.S.

The newer groups have taken a different approach for which their leaders have beenstrongly criticized. This approach consists of arriving at a mutual accord with Castro in

order to stabilize the economic downfall, reestablish a democratic government, andreestablishment of diplomatic relations with the U.S.

The strongest of these organizations Is the Jose Martí Liberal Foundation, anumbrella institution based in Madrid, Spain.

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_001-025/doc0024.html

http://cuban-exile.com/doc_001-025/doc0005.html



The Miami- D ade school board sought to ban a book onCuba, Vamos a Cuba. They claimed that the book s

portrayal of Cuba was overly positive.

A federal judge ordered thebook back on school libraryshelves while the district foughta lawsuit aimed at keeping thebook available.

In a 2-1 decision, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta said the board did notbreach the First Amendment, and ordered aMiami federal judge to lift a preliminaryinjunction that had allowed Vamos a Cuba tobe checked out from school libraries

The US Supreme Court declined to hear the legal challenge, so the book removalstands.



Nearly two-thirds of Cuban-Americans living in Miami believe the

island would be better off if the U.S. government's travel ban werelifted, according to a new University of Miami study.

The situation in 2010:

The poll shows that 64 percent of Cuban-

Americans now want to scrap the travelrestrictions. Surprisingly, all age groups favorditching the travel ban, including 62 percent of those 66 years old or older.

Unsurprisingly, 92 percent of those surveyed said they had given up hope inCuban President Raúl Castro improving social and economic conditions onthe island. However, the poll was completed between June 28 and July 7,the day before the Catholic Church announced a deal for Cuba to releasemany of its political prisoners.



W hat to watch for:This is a more Hollywood-style film, with a bit more predictable plot and outcome.Hollywood films often make sure that someone learns a lesson, be it a character or theviewer. W hat are the lessons learned here?

This film does NOT star Cuban exiles [it does however star a former member of the groupMenudo !]. How would the film be different if it had? The director/producer is Mexican,

from what I can tell. There s almost no info about him!

FOR NEXT MOND AY:

W e re going to try an experiment to help me determine how to better teach this classnext time around.

You will still have readings [pp. 540, 544, 552, 666]

I will also post the slides for next week s class this week for you to view on your ownBEFORE class.

On Monday we ll watch the film 638 Ways to K ill Cas tro at 5:00. and then have an in-class discussion following the film.

i heart miami

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