Lawyer for Cuban Boy's Relatives Is Elected Miami Mayor

New York Times ^ | 11/14/01 | DANA CANEDY

[kattracks]

IAMI, Nov. 13 — Manny Diaz, a political no-name who became a central figure in the Elián González episode, shook up the local political establishment today by easily winning the race for mayor of Miami in his first campaign for elected office.

Mr. Diaz, a 47-year-old Cuban- American lawyer who became publicly known last year as a representative of the Miami relatives of Elián, the young Cuban survivor of a boat sinking, defeated Maurice Ferre, a former mayor who could not gain enough support among African- Americans and non-Cuban whites to overcome Mr. Diaz's lock on the decisive Cuban-American vote for the runoff election.

Mr. Diaz, an independent, had 55.3 percent of the vote to 44.7 percent for Mr. Ferre, a Democrat.

"Forty years ago my mother and I arrived as poor immigrants in this city and lived a couple of blocks away," Mr. Diaz said in his acceptance speech at his headquarters in Little Havana. "And 40 years later here I am as mayor of the city. God bless America."

In many ways, the election of the political newcomer was vintage Miami politics. In a familiar election theme here, a campaign that initially focused on taxes, city services and other municipal issues shifted in the last week into a battle dominated by race, ethnicity and Cuban-American ideologies. The shift highlighted the deep divisions among racial and ethnic groups in a city that prides itself on its international reputation.

The candidates were forced into a runoff after they came in first and second in the election on Nov. 6 in which no one received more than 50 percent of the vote. In qualifying for today's matchup, the candidates defeated Mayor Joe Carollo.

Almost immediately after eliminating their opponents, the front-runners began accusing each other of pushing ethnically sensitive hot buttons for political gain.

Mr. Ferre, who is Puerto Rican, accused his opponent of spreading a rumor in the Little Havana section that he supported Janet Reno, the Democratic candidate for governor who has been vilified among many Cuban-Americans for ordering the federal raid that returned Elián to his Cuban father while she was attorney general in the Clinton administration.

Mr. Diaz's supporters, meanwhile, pointed fingers at Mr. Ferre over pamphlets placed anonymously on cars in a black neighborhood that showed Mr. Diaz with Elián and suggested that he used the boy to advance his political agenda.

Both candidates denied the other's accusations while accusing each other of waging a divisive campaign.

"There's been a lot of dirty stuff here," said Mr. Ferre, who was mayor from 1973 until 1985 and campaigned on his experience, which included presiding over the city during the Mariel boatlift and the race riots in the Liberty City section.

"I think what has happened is that what keeps popping out is Elián and Janet Reno and, you know, the right- wing fanaticism in the Cuban-American community," Mr. Ferre said this afternoon.

"It is the lock-step blind fanatical rejection of anything not within the purview of what they think is right," he said. "There is no middle ground in the minds of many of these people."

Mr. Diaz's supporters said Mr. Ferre had simply run a negative campaign at a time when voters were looking for positive change.

"People are upset at the way Ferre handled his campaign," Alberto Lorenzo, Mr. Diaz's campaign manager, said this afternoon. "He's doing what he likes to do, which is divide and confuse."

Some voters, however, emphasized the need for political experience in a city that has been plagued by scandal and embarrassment.

More than a dozen Miami police officers are awaiting trial on federal charges of brutality and corruption. And Mayor Carollo has had his own legal troubles, having spent a night in jail in February after being accused of throwing a cardboard tea container at his wife. Prosecutors later dropped a misdemeanor abuse charge against him.

"Manny Diaz has never had this kind of job and has no political experience," said Marina Vazquez, 37, who voted for Mr. Ferre, saying he made her feel "a bit more secure."

Despite Mr. Carollo's troubles, his endorsement of Mr. Diaz seems to have been a factor.

"Running against a Cuban-American is always difficult here," said George Gonzalez, a political science professor at the University of Miami. "Cuban-Americans here do vote along ethnic lines."

In his concession speech, Mr. Ferre again emphasized the ethnic and racial divisions that he believes helped to determine the outcome of the race. "The time will come in America when we can look and deal with each other based on our value and our worth and not on the color of our skin, our nationality or our ethnicity or our religion," he said. But he added on a hopeful note: "Today Miami seems to be a divided community but from a divided community to a united community, the change can be very quick and very short."

[Cincinatus' Wife]

The mayoral runoff in Houston has the LIBERAL foaming at the mouth!

Sanchez replies to Brown with attack ad of his own-- Last weekend, Brown started running a television commercial calling Sanchez an extremist who is an ally of Christian right political activist Steven Hotze….. …..Sanchez, a Cuban-American trying to convince Hispanic voters to support him, is running a similar ad on Spanish-language radio stations….. Joe Householder, spokesman for the Brown campaign, said the new Sanchez commercial is validation of "everything we said -- that he's a right-wing extremist." …. "He doesn't offer any proof that what we said is wrong," Householder added. "He just stamps his feet and says, `They're lying.' "…. Hotze, chairman of Conservative Republicans of Harris County, has fought against gay rights and abortion for more than 15 years while urging that government adhere to the moral directives of "biblical Christianity."

[jrlc]

Take note JANET RHINO.

[MayflowerMadam]

Maybe this isn't the best thread for this, but re Reno, has anyone heard or read anything about Reno making a statement that any Americans who believe in the second coming of Christ "should be rounded up"? It was mentioned during chit-chat on our church steps last Sunday; wondering if anyone can verify?

[sakic]

This is very similar to how blacks vote in blocs in other cities. It'll be interesting to see the long term effects on Miami.

[Bogey78O]

There is no greater voting bloc than a group of angry people.

[sakic]

There's no doubt that Castro's Cuba is tantamount to Nazi Germany 90 miles off our coast.

You have no knowledge of history and no sense of proportion to make a statement like this.

[sakic]

All your hypothetical crap about whether or not they would have turned the boy over is useless, SINCE THEY WERE NEVER ASKED, and they still thought they were negotiating in good faith when the Reno

If they were never asked, what was the negotiation about?

[sakic]

Reno making a statement that any Americans who believe in the second coming of Christ "should be rounded up"? It was mentioned during chit-chat on our church steps last Sunday; wondering if anyone can verify?

It sounds like someone at your church has gone off the deep end.

[The Right Stuff]

"He's doing what he likes to do, which is divide and confuse."

Typical DummyRAT tactics. Personally, I will be out in force as a Florida FReeper to make sure that Janet El Reno never gets elected governor of this state.

Interesting tidbit - she comes up here occasionally to speak and the local 'RATS NEVER release the info to the paper until AFTERWARDS.

They've been spooked since we FReeped them so successfully in Daytona!

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[The Right Stuff]

You make some great remarks, and I also remember some other details such as Senator Fred Thompson not being allowed (ALLOWED! A U.S. Senator!) in to see Juan Miguel and Elian while they were being held (at Camp David? some compound in VA?)

Not only that, but Reno had a bogus warrant and that phony Kendall was supposedly talking to her when the Feds broke down the door.

Clear violation of the 4th Amendment. Clinton was way more interested in pacifying his buddy, Papa Castro than in doing the right thing by granting freedom to the whole family.

We have proof of how Clinton really thinks in his recent Georgetown speech. Let us hope and pray that his type NEVER gets elected again.

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

[gulfcoast6]

You think she gets the message? Naw. I am so glad that this has happened and So Fla has sent a message to all the US.

[hchutch]

First of all, Juan Miguel probably had a gun to his head.

Second, there was a law that governed, and set no age requirement. Elian was pretty much entitled to the hearing that he never got.

Third, when dealing with Fidel Castro's demands, the appropriate response is always this: Flip him the bird, tell him where to go, and tell him what he can do to himself when he gets there.

[Luis Gonzalez]

"It is my understanding that the parents had joint custody of the boy in Cuba."

Wrong, Elian was born out of wedlock, Elisabet had sole custody.

"Also, the child did not know his relatives here in the US."

Wrong, Elian's Miami relatives had made several visits to Cuba, and knew Elian.

"If this case had been one between states within the US, the uncle would never have been given custody over the father."

The case would have been settled in family Court, and custody would not have automatically been awarded the father, unless of course, you believe that fathers who sire children out of wedlock should be given automatic custody. Either way, there would have been a custody hearing.

"As a legal matter..."

As a legal matter, Elian Gonzalez qualified for a hearing asylum under current US Laws, primarily, the Cuban Adjustment Act. INS regulations have very specific procedures in place to handle such matters as minor children seeking asylum against their parents wishes, and there is precedent, with the case of Walter Polovchak in 1980.

"Let me reverse your question"

Your question does not work, you left out too many pertinent facts.

If my wife took my son out of a communist hellhole, died in the process, but managed to get him to freedom to live with trusted relatives, I would never, out of a selfish need to posses another human being, condemn my son to a life of oppression, lack of Liberty, and possible brutality.

Perhaps you need to better acquaint yourself with the facts.

I also read your statement that the Miami relatives "dared" the US government to "come get" Elian.

I suppose that your reasoning there would be the fact that the DOJ demanded that Elian be returned, I guess you fail to realize that without a Court order, an American citizen is not compelled to blindly obey orders from the Federal government, that a request for such a Court order was categorically denied each and every time the DOJ asked the Federal Appeals Court to issue one, and that the search warrant used to kidnap Elian was illegal, and not executed according to the letter of the Law. The warrant was for the arrest of one Elian Gonzalez, an illegal alien, believed to be hiding at Lazaro's house.

Elian had been ordered to remain in the US until his hearing date in Atlanta, can't be an illegal alien if ordered to stay in the country by a Federal Court. If Elian was "arrested" as the warrant orders, why wasn't he read his Miranda rights? Why was he denied access to his attorneys?

If our own Justice Department is not bound by the Law, what kind of a country do we have here?

[FReethesheeples]

I HOPE Janet Reno continues to run and is TROUNCED by Jeb Bush, as polls now indicate will be the case.

[clintonh8r]

More bad news for Uncle Janet. Uber-RAT and ultra-beeotch Elain Bloom lost her bid for mayor of Miami Beach to the Jeb-endorsed candidate. Florida will remain a red state. Bite it, RATs. Bite it hard!

[eleni121]

Yippee! Great news again today!

GO Diaz!