3) Spanish and other European immigrants that were encouraged to settle in Cuba as per attempts to "bleach" the island. This was the first time anything like this was seriously proposed since Haiti earned its independence. This is important to note because the "spectre" of Haiti loomed ominously over Spanish and Cuban whites for a century and most of their policies towards Cuba's Blacks were reflective of it. The following year, the Cuban Ward Connerly of his day, Martin Morúa Delgado was elected Speaker in Cuba's Senate. The year after that, Morúa introduced legislation that became known as the Morúa Amendment and it outlaws the PIC because is was based on race and racism was supposedly eradicated in Cuba. Just before the vote was taken to enact this bill into law, Estonez and other PIC leaders were imprisoned and were kept in jail until after the law was passed.
Arbitrary detention of Haitian refugees should not be part of U.S. foreign policy. Minors should not be held captive, nor should any of the refugees be denied due process or the right to legal representation. In the past, all Haitian refugees were considered economic refugees. Today, even the president of Haiti, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, is claiming that he is being persecuted. While the U.S. Special Forces and the State Department are busy chasing Al Qaeda fighters in Afghanistan, on the island nation of Haiti, a powerful and deadly drama is unfolding. Mob killings of reporters and shootouts in broad daylight between mayors and congressmen have become common occurrence.
"Currently the districts only dilute the voting strength of Haitian-Americans," he said. "If the county does not increase the number of seats, the chances are that within the next 10 years you will see a Haitian American and an African American fighting for the same seat," he said. "This would cause deep ethnic division. And we already have enough ethnic division." "In the past Commissioner Gwen Margolis has supported the idea in principal. And Commissioner Dorrin Rolle has questioned the timing of it," he said.
Needless to say, it would take more than this short column to list all her accomplishments and all the legislative activities she had been involved in. Suffice it to say, however, she fought very hard, not only for her constituencies, but also for what was right. And this is the point that requires a reflective pause for the Haitian community. The Haitian community, along with some non-Haitian observers, has always felt that it has been discriminated against by U.S. immigration policies. Back in the 1980's and the early 1990's, there were many Haitian activists who took to the streets and to the airwaves to decry these discriminatory policies. However, none of the Haitian activists were elected officials. Certainly, the efforts of these activists were very important and sometimes fruitful in the context of exposing the inequality of these policies to the larger American public.
Its Chairman, [Henry Crespo], suggested that the recall "is about the Camillus House," and its recommended relocation initially adjacent to Overtown and most recently in the area of newly elected Commissioner Angel Gonzalez's district. [Arthur E. Teele, Jr.], who supports this latter move as well as quality housing for the homeless, explained that the new Camillus House will be a state-of-the-art, well-designed secluded homeless facility, nothing like the current loiter-type housing. Gonzalez is on record as being against the new site on Cuban radio and from the dais. Reportedly, Gonzalez has been very vocal with Camillus House proponents against Teele. As its platform, the recall committee has circulated flyers listing contracts awarded by the City of Miami Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA), which Teele chairs, as justification for Commissioner Teele's alleged "neglect of duty." Teele responded in the PULSE meeting that he cannot accept responsibility for the actions of all five City of Miami commissioners who sit on the CRA Board. He individually named each business, explained their service to the CRA and their contribution to the overall redevelopment of the Southeast-Overtown Park West/Omni area.
