Joe Garcia

For a few cycles now, I keep hearing talk that South Florida may be ready for a somewhat more enlightened approach to Cuba than the "starve them until they give us back our confiscated property" model that's done so very little to drive Castro from power over the past 50 years. It seems like Joe Garcia's ready to put that theory to the test in his race against Mario Diaz-Balart:

Real leaders don’t compromise principles for petty politics. I stood up and challenged the Clinton administration when they wrongly held Cuban refugees in Guantanamo; and I stood up to the Bush administration because of its policy of dividing Cuban families. This is the kind of leadership I will bring to Washington. [...] But Mario Diaz-Balart doesn't want to work with other members of Congress to find solutions; he'd rather distract from the issues and muddy the waters. He's made a whole career of intimidating opponents and accusing them of being Castro-sympathizers, but he can't pull that stunt with me. I've spent my entire life working for human rights and freedom in Cuba and I can debate, point-for-point with him on this or any other issue.

At issue here is the fairly small beer point of the Bush administration's restrictions on travel and family remittances, but any change for the better would be nice, and seeing the far-right position fail in Florida could cause a lot of people in Congress to rethink our whole approach to this subject.

Comments

To anyone who knows them (and the millions who don't) Mario and his brother Lincoln are cheap frauds. Garcia's campaign is a welcome sign. And, everyone who can - should pitch in to help.

Posted by Trevor | April 17, 2008 9:09 AM

First off, thanks for the Florida coverage (I feel so included!).

This post at Miami & Beyond has some fascinating info about the school where many of the current Miami political elite went - Colegio de Belen.

http://miamiandbeyond.blogspot.com/2008/04/belen.html

Fun fact that the item points out - Alumni have asked Garcia to dis-invite Charlie Rangel to a fundraiser (apparently his presence is seen as an act of betrayal).

More info about this right-wing training ground here (interesting, side note, Perez Hilton went to school there as well).

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2001-05-10/news/class-act/full

Posted by - g | April 17, 2008 9:24 AM

It is a shame that Congress people Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D) and Kendrick Meek (D) are supporting the Diaz-Balarts rather than the Democrats in the races against Miami Dade Republican incumbents. They should be ashamed.

Posted by Steve from So Florida | April 17, 2008 10:06 AM

At issue here is the fairly small beer point of the Bush administration's restrictions on travel and family remittances

Left unsaid, I suppose, is that Garcia supports the embargo.

Posted by Al | April 17, 2008 10:07 AM

"It is a shame that Congress people Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D) and Kendrick Meek (D) are supporting the Diaz-Balarts rather than the Democrats in the races against Miami Dade Republican incumbents. They should be ashamed.

Posted by Steve from So Florida | April 17, 2008 10:06 AM"

WTF? Unless someone showed them secret pictures of Garcia fucking a box turtle, wtf are they thinking?

Posted by Reality Man | April 17, 2008 12:07 PM

I'm all in favor of changing a policy that doesn't work, as this one doesn't. But it's a bit much to attribute to the Bush administration a policy which has been around for 50 years. The policy itself is wrong-headed enough that I don't understand why you feel the need to subject it to guilt by association.

Posted by wj | April 17, 2008 6:43 PM

Joe Garcia is a breath of fresh air in South Florida. He's got my vote!

Posted by Mady | April 17, 2008 9:45 PM

"It is a shame that Congress people Debbie Wasserman-Schultz (D) and Kendrick Meek (D) are supporting the Diaz-Balarts rather than the Democrats in the races against Miami Dade Republican incumbents. They should be ashamed."

Posted by Steve from So Florida

I agree with Steve. Wasserman-Shultz and Meek are corrupt Dino's (Democrats In Name Only) who accept ultra-right-wing PAC money in exchange for their anti-Cuba votes in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Posted by Cuba Journal | April 22, 2008 5:53 AM