Letters for the Issue of November 23, 1995

South Florida's Favorite
Stalinist Leeches
Kathy Glasgow's article "Breach of Faith" (November 16) concerning radio commentator Emilio Milian merely whets one's appetite when it comes to the smorgasbord of incidents in which people are silenced because they fail to adhere to the official line of the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF). No matter who you are A whether a mere secretary, a student, or an executive A if you voice disagreement with the "supreme leader" of the foundation, its members will seek ways of marginalizing, if not ruining, you. It seems that the smaller and more insignificant you are, the more they enjoy it.

Unfortunately these primitive and cold-blooded tactics have now become firmly embedded in the fabric of Miami as a result of the silent complicity of past administrations and the agencies they control, such as the Federal Communications Commission. All have repeatedly looked the other way for purposes of political expediency while the airwaves are used to control, distort, and censor domestic public opinion. And all this in the guise of democracy, patriotism, and even public service. What brass balls!

Many of these mega-millionaires of the CANF rightly perceive themselves now as above the law. After all, they've successfully pushed the envelope here in Miami and in Washington for more than a decade, tripping up people, destroying careers, and bankrupting independent thinkers. Now they're running all over Latin America with front corporations and bogus joint ventures, scarfing up radio stations, cable companies, and contracts for cellular phone service through the same old tactics of intimidation and threats.

As in the past, the present administration in Washington sees nothing, hears nothing, and says nothing. In the meantime, the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act collects dust, merely serving to stifle law-abiding American companies that are down there unsuccessfully trying to compete with these piranhas. Does Washington perceive the stifling of freedom of speech and competition in Latin America as being in this country's long-term interest? At best, it doesn't give a shit.

Hopefully, Washington will soon get the wake-up call from American businesses that are being shafted on a daily basis. Otherwise this clique will begin to seriously undermine Latin America's fledgling democracies and their embryonic markets, as they have done to varying degrees in Miami.

It is evident that this black fate may also await Cuba after Castro exits. What an irony for the Cuban people to rid themselves of one blood-sucking dictator and to suddenly end up at the mercy of the conclave of entrepreneurial Stalinist leeches who'll own all their radio and TV stations, their cable companies, and their phone systems, along with other essential industries. This is no joke, but it's a very real possibility if the U.S. government continues to play deaf and dumb. Ultimately anybody who wants to do anything in Cuba -- from opening his mouth to selling toilet paper to peddling Hi-C -- will first have to get permission from his majesty, Robin Hood, and his merry men from CANF.

Humberto Gonzalez, Jr.
Miami

Miami's Bungling Socialist Bureaucracy
Robert Andrew Powell's article "Technical Knockout" (November 16) exemplifies exactly what happens when asinine lawmakers gather to legislate their perverse sense of fairness. With regard to the City of Miami's minority-participation ordinance, three enormous inequities are evident to "right-thinking" citizens.

In a city with a 62.5 percent Hispanic and a 27.4 percent black population (source: Almanac of World Facts, Rand McNally, 1995), overall U.S. statistics on ethnic minority status should not be applied. Which jackass commissioner was it who thought Miami was the prototypical 85 percent white community? Why doesn't the ordinance match the local demographic -- i.e., at least 62 percent of all city business must go to Hispanics, et cetera?

In a free-enterprise system, successful entrepreneurs thrive by finding creative solutions to difficult problems. It seems as though [security company owner] Gabriel Adeife needs to lower his bid and shore up his "civic responsibility" category and gain his extra three points to win the next city contract. Instead he is whining about a system that was specifically designed to be skewed in his favor.

Finally, only in a bungling socialist bureaucracy would it be acceptable for officials to waste an extra $60,000 a year trying to prove they are not racists. They have ridiculously biased ordinances, cumbersome point systems, and countless lawsuits to ensure "fairness." Yet we are supposed to feel they haven't done enough until the taxpayers fork over more money for the same service just because of skin color. Now that is true racism.

D. Raymond Slaughter
Miami Beach

Huizenga's Hand-Picked Trashy Scum
Ron Book is scum ("Crime and Politics," November 9). His accomplishments are not a measuring stick of his talent but rather a reflection of his willingness to ignore laws, ethics, and morals.

It is no wonder Wayne Huizenga, the king of garbage, would rely on a piece of trash to do his bidding.

As far as the debate regarding whether to remove his name from the public athletic field in North Miami, how about a compromise? Let's just change a couple of letters and call it the Ron Crook Athletic Field?

Name Withheld by Request
Miami Beach