Leadership Abhors a Vacuum

A A A Comments By Jim DeFede Thursday, Jul 22 1999

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That promise, however, will not stop Sanchez from attempting to provoke other clashes with the Cuban government. During the Pope's visit to the island last year, Sanchez played a cat-and-mouse game with the Coast Guard while he tried to sneak another boat into Cuban waters. The mission failed, he says, because the seas were too rough. "I had FBI agents trying to find me to see where I was," he recalls with amusement.

In many ways Sanchez is more a danger to the United States in his present role than he ever was as a young commando. His goal is to create scenarios that almost certainly would lead to violent responses from the Cuban military, responses Sanchez hopes will spark a new revolution in Cuba but which could just as easily draw the United States into a clash with the island nation at a time when the administration is hoping to soften its approach toward Castro.

Michelle Sas

Democracia founder Ramon Saul Sanchez promises a movement that is both moral and nonviolent

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Sanchez doesn't think that far ahead. "We're taking little steps," he says, "but we are moving toward the goals we all want to achieve."

jim_defede@miaminewtimes.com