Posted on 11/17/2004 6:28:21 AM PST by SmithPatterson
Defectors face future together
BY DAVID OVALLE AND ELAINE DE VALLE dovalle@herald.com
LAS VEGAS - Members of the Havana Night Club show -- newly defected from Cuba -- enjoyed their opening night in these strange surroundings Tuesday, taking solace in what got them here in the first place.
Each other.
''You know what gives me strength?'' said José Manuel, 38, a dancer and singer. ``The company. We dance. We act. This is what we want to do and it's what gives me strength.''
Throngs of gamblers stood up and cheered as the troupe preceded its official opening act Tuesday night by parading down a red carpet outside the Wayne Newton Theater, snaking its way around blackjack tables. Wearing traditional and flashy costumes, playing drums and blowing whistles, cast members were led by Las Vegas legend Siegfried of the Siegfried & Roy duo.
Early Tuesday, the 44 troupe members already in Las Vegas were joined by six comrades, who arrived at McCarran Interntional Airport from Germany.
MORE PAPERWORK
The six requested asylum in Germany because they could not get visas to the United States on time. They have family in America, which made them a greater flight risk in the eyes of the Cuban government, said Hannah Kampf, a spokeswoman representing the group.
The reunion was delayed for a few hours when the six newcomers were required to finish additional Customs and immigrations paperwork necessary for those who request refugee status overseas.
''There are no issues,'' said Pamela Falk, an immigration attorney representing the troupe. ``It's just extra paperwork.''
The delay dampened the mood only slightly for the performers the day after they requested asylum in the largest mass defection since Fidel Castro took power.
Most felt elated, maybe a little scared, facing their new lives, and definitely worried about their families in Cuba.
For Puro Hernández, the group's musical director, the loss of family cuts deepest.
His mother lives in Cienfuegos. Hernández won't be able to take his 15-year-old niece and 4-year-old nephew to parks and museums.
''They're the kids I don't have,'' said Hernández, 32. ``They are my adoration.'
The United States rejected the troupe's first visa request. But the performers persisted and, after lobbying by members of the Cuban American National Foundation and other influential exiles, they got their visas.
The troupe came to the United States over the objections of Cuba's government.
Falk, the lawyer, described a series of events that veered from the absurd to the dramatic in her two-year quest to get the OK from Havana and Washington.
At one point, she found herself having to convince bureaucrats in D.C. that the cha-cha-cha is indeed Cuban, since the troupe had to be offering something ''culturally unique,'' Falk said.
At another, she trotted out 800 pages of financial records -- ''phone calls, receipts, everything,'' she said -- to prove to the State Department that the group was the rare independent group in Cuba that earns no money for Castro's government.
WHAT'S AHEAD
The next steps for the 44 Cubans who filed their application for asylum in Las Vegas on Monday are fingerprinting and asylum interviews. The interviews could be within six to seven weeks at the closest asylum office, in Southern California. Each applicant would return to that office two weeks later to get an answer in person.
Hernández has fielded calls from across the world -- friends from Thailand, France, even an old soccer buddy who lives in Miami and saw him on TV.
His smile is so broad, his questions about life in the United States steeped in pure optimism. His girlfriend of four years is a dancer in the show. Maybe they will finally get married.
And soon, Hernández hopes, he can finally visit Miami.
The troupe had warmed up for Tuesday's opening show with an emotional charity performance Monday night. Hernández, the German-born director and self-described ''mother hen'' introduced the show to the audience by saying that the cast's decision to defect was made ``with a tear and a laugh.''
''It's great to be here in the United States -- it only took 50 years,'' performer Jose David Alvarez blurted out during the show.
The troupe is staying in nearby hotel suites. Shopping at Target on Tuesday was an adventure. They discovered a Cuban restaurant, the Florida Cafe, on Vegas' main strip.
Singer Pedro Dikan left his family behind, but his Cuban-born girlfriend who lives in Guatemala may soon join him.
''It feels weird. I can't compare it to Cuba,'' Dikan said. ``Everything here is almost too perfect . . . but this is the city of lights. This is what we as performers all dream about.''
We could send Fidel Whoopie Goldberg and a few other Hollywood types as a trade.
Under the previous administration they would have been led back to their plane under the gun.......ala Elian.
Not only Whoppi..but other Castro Commie lovers like Danny DaVito, Harry Belafonte, Barbara Streisand, Kris Kristofferson. Even Alec Baldwin should go there.
Because our incompetent CIA couldn't do it...then other presidents didn't want to be bothered with it. The Cuban dissidents are too many giving news interviews and don't seem motivated to do it.
Danny Glover. He could row the boat from Key West.
That would suit me fine!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.