BY MAGGIE McCRAW
MIAMI - In a blow to ultra-rightist Cuban groups who oppose cultural exchange between the United States and Cuba, government officials and businesses in nearby Miami Beach proposed a plan October 7 to circumvent a Miami ordinance that threatened an international music conference by barring the participation of Cuban artists.

The music conference - MIDEM Latin American and Caribbean Music Market -is an international gathering for artists and music executives. It has hosted Cuban artists at meetings outside the United States, and in September held the first of five annual conferences contracted for Miami.

A 1996 Dade county ordinance prohibits the county from funding events that allow participation by Cuban artists or businesses that do business with Cuba. This year the MIDEM organizers complied with the ban.

Facing a threatened boycott by the music industry if they continued to adhere to the anti-Cuba ordinance, MIDEM, which received $125,000 from the county, indicated it would cancel its contract with Miami. In an effort to keep the conference and its multi-million-dollar revenues, government officials and businesses interests in Miami Beach proposed October 7 to bypass the ordinance by soliciting the $125,000 from private and corporate contributions.

This followed an outcry over the September firing of Peggi McKinley, an appointee of the Dade County Commission and chair of the film advisory board. Supporting the effort to get the ordinance waived for MIDEM, McKinley publicly stated that "allowing a few people's political standpoint to dictate the potential economic growth of the area is not for the benefit of the community as a whole."

Following this statement, the Dade County Commission unanimously voted to dismiss her. Later one commissioner, Katy Sorenson, voiced opposition to the firing and changed her vote. Commissioner Javier Souto denounced Sorenson's decision, declaring, "You are playing with fire... There are a lot of Cuban people who vote."

The rightist Cuban American National Foundation accused McKinley of making a "patently racist statement..[that] is an affront to the many victims.. of Fidel Castro's human rights atrocities."

Several prominent political figures spoke out against McKinley's firing. At the same time, many of them seized on the opportunity to try to smear the Cuban revolution. Andy Kayton, legal director of the Florida American Civil Liberties Union, described the firing as "the type of government action one might expect in a communist dictatorship, but not in the United States."

After McKinley's firing, the Miami Herald urged readers to write in their opinions on McKinley's termination and the political questions involved. The majority focused their fire on the county commission's firing of McKinley and the attempts of the more vocal right-wing elements in the Cuban community to eliminate discussion.

The Herald gave prominent attention to a statement made by Gloria Estafan. The popular Cuban-American singer, who described herself as "staunchly anti-communist," said she felt "dismay" at McKinley's firing and called for defense of "each other's right to voice an opinion without fear of reprisal, whatever the opinion might be." Right-wing radio stations and groups began a campaign against Estafan, with some calling for a public burning of her CDs.

Janet Post, Socialist Workers candidate for the mayor of Miami, told the Militant, "I condemn attempts by Miami's rulers to stifle a free and open discussion on these issues and call for support to forums, picket lines or any other protests against these attacks on all our democratic rights."  
 
 
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