BY ERNIE MAILHOT
MIAMI - As rightist groups in the Miami Cuban American community organized activities on February 24 to denounce the Cuban revolution and support Washington's attacks on the Cuban people, several groups here opposed to the Clinton administration's policies towards Cuba held a press conference.

The press conference told the truth about the events of Feb. 24, 1996, when the Cuban military defended its sovereignty against ongoing incursions into its airspace by planes flown by Cuban American counterrevolutionaries from the Brothers to the Rescue group.

Participants in the press conference explained that the downing of the planes by a Cuban MIG was used by Washington as an excuse to pass the Helms-Burton Law. They also denounced further provocative acts planned by rightists here. The main speaker was Andrés Gómez from the Antonio Maceo Brigade. Other groups participating were the Alliance of Workers of the Cuban Community, the Miami Coalition to End the U.S. Embargo of Cuba, and the group Afro-Cuban Cultural Rescue [Rescate Cultural Afrocubano].

Gómez explained that one year ago when the U.S. government, convinced it could not get the Cuban government to follow it's dictates, "...decided to let take off from an airport in Miami the three planes from Brothers to the Rescue whose pilots, it was known publicly on that day, had the intention of once again violating Cuban airspace."

It was also well known in Miami and Washington that the Cuban government had given strong and public warnings against any more incursions into their territory, said Gómez. He referred specifically to the extreme rightists Brothers to the Rescue and the Democracy Movement, a group that had previously taken boats into Cuban territorial waters. This "warning was made public after planes from Brothers to the Rescue flew over the city of Havana on January 9 and 13 of 1996," he said.

Referring to Brothers to the Rescue and the U.S. government, Gómez stated: "Those responsible for the knocking down of those two planes and the resulting death of the four pilots, members of Brothers to the Rescue who died in this operation one year ago today, are those who organized this operation and participated in it, and those who encouraged and permitted it."

Besides the Cuban American rightists' actions, government officials here and Cuban American churches were among those who organized activities to commemorate the four anti-Cuba activists who died a year ago. Among these activities were church services and the dedication of a small bridge. Right- wingers organized a flyover of planes from Brothers to the Rescue and the Democracy Movement, which dropped flowers in the ocean. They flew to an area in international waters where the U.S. government and José Basulto, the head of Brothers to the Rescue, claim the planes fell. Basulto asserted he flew into Cuban airspace in 1996, but the other two planes did not.

While many Cuban Americans sympathized with the families of the pilots who died a year ago and some did take off work to be part of activities, none of the gatherings were especially large. This reporter works in a factory where more than 50 of the 60 or so workers are Cuban American. Not a single person took off work there to attend the rightist commemoration and there was little discussion about the one- year anniversary, even among a layer who are very vocal in their opposition to the Cuban revolution.

The most resounding failure for the Cuban American counterrevolutionaries here on this day, however, was the demonstration they organized outside Union Radio to denounce Francisco Aruca. Aruca hosts "Ayer en Miami" which is part of Radio Progreso and aired on Union Radio. A liberal commentator who calls for a peaceful transition from socialism to capitalism in Cuba, Aruca opposes the U.S. economic blockade of Cuba and favors dialogue with the Cuban government. Despite being publicized on several Spanish language radio stations for weeks, fewer than 250 people attended the protest outside Union Radio.  
 
 
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