Miami mayor would fight putting Cuban consulate in the city

Miami mayor would fight putting Cuban consulate in the city
BY DOUGLAS HANKS DHANKS@MIAMIHERALD.COM
12/17/2014 7:54 PM 12/18/2014 2:06 AM

When Cuba finally opens an embassy in Washington, D.C., a Cuban
consulate in Miami may not be far behind.

Elected leaders were contemplating that possibility Wednesday as they
gamed out the consequences of President Barack Obama's announcement of
talks to normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. Already a must for
Latin American consular offices, Miami boasts the country's largest
Cuban population. So an outpost in the Magic City would make particular
sense for Havana to handle the paperwork needs that come with increased
ties to the United States.

"It's a likely possibility," said Carlos Curbelo, a Cuban-American and
recently elected Republican congressman representing parts of Miami-Dade
County and the Keys. "In Miami, it would be a slap in the face to the
hundreds of thousands of victims of the Castro tyranny that live here."

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado said a White House official raised the
possibility of Cuban consulates outside of Washington in a private
briefing Wednesday before the president's announcement. In an afternoon
interview, Regalado, whose journalist father spent 22 years in a Cuban
prison under the Fidel Castro regime, said he opposes putting a Cuban
diplomatic facility in Miami.

"I would think having a consulate in Miami would be a mistake because it
would create a safety issue," said Regalado, a Republican. "Because some
people eventually will try to do something to the consulate."

Regalado said Miami would have no say on where Cuba might want to
establish consulates once Washington grants full diplomatic relations.
"But we certainly would not support it," he said.

The mayor's preemptive stance captures the sweeping reset of all that is
possible when it comes to Cuba. Though already a hub for the limited
commerce, travel and immigration allowed between the United States and
Cuba, Miami also remains the fiercest enclave of hardliners toward the
Castro regime. With Obama's surprise announcement of the United States
entering talks to restore diplomatic relations, the Cuban government
could eventually be shopping for a permanent home within Miami city limits.

There was no official word Wednesday about Havana's potential desire for
a consulate, and even the timetable for restoring diplomatic relations
remained a question mark. But as the largest Caribbean nation, Cuba
would be the exception if it didn't establish a consulate in Miami. The
Miami area is home to 35 Latin American consulates, according to a
directory maintained by the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office. With
one of three Miami-Dade residents listed as being of Cuban origin,
according to 2010 Census data, demographics would seem to make Miami an
easy choice for a satellite embassy.

"Of course, with Miami's population, it makes great sense," said Kathy
Castor, a Democratic congresswoman representing the Tampa Bay area.

Tampa also has a large Cuban population, and Castor said she'd work to
persuade Cuba to open a consulate in the Tampa Bay area as soon as possible.

"The No. 1 constituent issue at my office here in Tampa is the
unification of Cuban family members," she said. "I had one where there
was a bone-marrow match between a brother here in Tampa and a sister in
Cuba."

Bob Buckhorn, Tampa's mayor, stopped short of embracing the notion of a
Cuban consulate in his city. But the Democrat said a consulate would be
safe in Tampa.

"If the Cuba government chooses to do that, and they're within the
boundaries of what is being laid out today, I think they're free to do
it," Buckhorn said. "I think it will be safe. Tampa residents are
law-abiding citizens."

Source: Miami mayor would fight putting Cuban consulate in the city |
The Miami Herald -
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article4585036.html