"LIBERAL-BIGOTRY" AND THE MIAMI HERALD'S DE FACTO ALLIANCE WITH EVIL

By Larry Daley

The Miami Herald reporting on the Castro campaign to get the US to revoke the Cuban Ajustment act (footnote 1) does not discuss either the cruel communistoid tyranny in Cuba which drives the refugees to leave.

Nor does this paper discuss the Clinton-Castro accords (with its absurd premise,"US waters are not US territory") and thus by returning those caught at sea to Cuba forces the refugees to take extraordinarily dangerous steps to avoid not only Castro's border security, but also the US Coast Guard.

On the other hand, when discussing the recent terribly sad losses of Haitian migrants (footnote 2), the Miami Herald does discuss the economics that drive them (see below)..

And yet in its Haitian report this much flawed newspaper does not mention the US intervention in Haiti that overthrew a recent dictatorship; nor the US aid, public and private, that goes to that benighted and suffering country.

The paper also neglects the telling difference in the relative size and nature of the craft involved. Were this paper to do this it would clearly be forced to describe how the Haitian government turns a blind eye to the circumstance of migration and allows large, if very frequently unseaworthy, vessels to leave. While the Cuban government, often stoops to murder to control all craft in Cuba. And therefore when Cuban's leave it must be deep secrecy and using small fast boats from the US.

In this matter the Miami Herald appears to not chose to represent the general population of the Miami area. The paper seems to have chosen to represent a smaller segment of the population that resents the increase in local power of the Cuban-Americans and other Latin American migrants.

Now why should a mainline paper do this. This appears to be a matter of the oxymoron "liberal-bigotry." An impartial observer might be tempted to attribute the Miami Herald's bias to a pseudo "Kipplingesque" ideology, in which one must protect the "lesser races of the world" as long as they to not threaten the power of those who view themselves as the controlling establishment.

To make this point let us consider the circumstance in Florida: Cuban-Americans are commonly economically successful and tend to vote Republican. As a result Cuban-Americans acquire influence and position in the US, and seem threating to those who view themselves as the "controlling liberal establishment" in Florida.

On the other hand, at present, Haitian-Americans are less likely to prosper; and their ethnic voting power, diminished by less frequent voting, remains committed to mainly Democratic candidates reducing bargaining power even further. As a result although now Haitian-Americans have some representation in Florida Legislature, their presence and influence at the national level is much less than for Cuban Americans. The Haitian, as of yet, are not a serious competitor for power with this "liberal-establishment."

And thus, in its defense of this "establishment," Miami Herald articles clearly show bias and the violation of ethical concepts of objective reporting.

And in doing this the Miami Herald editorial staff neglect the moral point that it is making an alliance with the last, and perhaps the most cruel dictator of the Americas.

END

Larry Daley
Corvallis, OR

Footnotes are taken from today's Miami Herald:

footnote 1

Published Wednesday, November 28, 2001

Castro at head of mourners, protesters

U.S. law cited in sea disaster

From Herald Wire Services

HAVANA -- President Fidel Castro of Cuba led a procession Tuesday of thousands of people wearing black T-shirts to protest against the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act and to mourn 13 children who died last week in a failed effort to reach the United States by boat.

Wearing his traditional green fatigues, Castro arrived at Jos Mart Square outside the U.S. Interests Section in central Havana to deliver a speech at the end of the ceremony.

An editorial in the official Communist Party daily Granma on Tuesday morning summoned 300,000 Cubans to the event, which coincides with the 130th anniversary of the execution of eight Cuban medical students by Spanish troops.

Condemning the drowning of the youngsters, Granma said that the smuggling attempt was ``a monstrous event, spawned by impunity and tolerance, that led numerous Cuban children to an atrocious death.''

The protest is ``an expression of mourning for the innocent children who, in the horror of scenes that may have been indescribable, saw their short and happy lives shattered as a consequence of the criminal [immigration] policy conducted against our country for many years,'' Granma said.

The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act grants Cubans who enter the United States by any means immediate residence.

The Cuban government, which maintains the law encourages illegal emigration to the U.S., refers to it as ``the killer law'' every time it blames it for the death of Cubans who take to the sea in rafts or pay smugglers to take them to South Florida in speedboats.

U.S. Coast Guard crews on Wednesday stopped searching the Florida Straits for the 30 Cubans, whose boat capsized in rough seas last weekend. No survivors have been found.

Family members of the migrants reported the group left Cuba in a speedboat on Nov. 16.

Monday evening, on the Cuban government's Round Table television program, moderator Randy Alonso accused Cuban exiles ``of trying to use the deaths of Cuban citizens . . . for their cruel political games.''

Havana first publicly mentioned the reports on Sunday evening, warning the missing migrants' relatives not to have false hopes about their loved ones' fate.

footnote 2

Published Thursday, November 29, 2001

200 Haitians are presumed dead
Florida-bound rickety boats are missing

BY JACQUELINE CHARLES
jcharles@herald.com

More than 200 Haitian migrants attempting to reach Florida in two rickety boats earlier this month are presumed drowned, a Haitian government official said Wednesday.

Esperand Dominique, a regional director of social affairs for the Haitian government, said family members have not heard from two groups of Haitian migrants who left Ile-a-Vache island off Haiti's south coast.

The first boat with some 150 Haitians aboard left Nov. 1, while the second, with 63 migrants aboard, departed the next day. Hurricane Michelle hit Cuba and the Bahamas a few days later, passing south of Florida. The boats may have capsized in the turbulent seas, Dominique said.

``Their families have abandoned hope,'' he said.

If the boats did sink, it would be one of the worst Haitian migrant tragedies at sea in recent years. In 1992, some 380 Haitian migrants died when the freighter Vierge Miracle sank off Cuba.

Jean Mesidor, of Maryland, said he received word from his parents in Haiti that he had 15 relatives on board the second boat that left from Ile-a-Vache, including his brother Junior.

``My parents did not want him to leave. When they heard he had left, they called me,'' Mesidor said.

Mesidor said he also has heard unconfirmed reports that some of the migrants are in Jamaica, so he doesn't know what to believe. Jamaican immigration officials could not immediately be reached.

Haitian community activist Marleine Bastien, who made a plea on Haitian radio for family members of the missing to come forward, said she has not heard from anyone.

``If we had more information we could go to the Coast Guard and say we have this,'' Bastien said. ``Without any details, it's very difficult.''

Bastien and Bahamian immigration officials say more migrants are likely. Because of the post-terror attack economic recession, relatives in the United States are less able to send money to family in Haiti and other islands.

This report was supplemented by information from The Associated Press.

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