STATEMENT FROM MANNY DIAZ RE: CUBAN CONSULATE

APRIL 13, 2016

As with all issues related to Cuba, there is a great deal of passion, emotion, and tension that is
built from the long history of the struggle for freedom of the Cuban people. It is important that these
passions and opinions be acknowledged and respected for their value. Such is the case with the issue of
whether a Cuban consulate office should be opened anywhere in Miami-Dade County. While this issue
has certainly caused much passion and debate, we are essentially engaging in an argument over a
question or matter that has not yet happened.
No one in President Barack Obama's administration has proposed or suggested that a Cuban
consular office be open in Miami-Dade. And yet, the reaction against it has been swift. This is the type
of reaction that Fidel and Raul Castro use to their advantage to smear us as "intolerant" and irrational.
We are simply not yet a time when this question has to be answered, so why engage in this debate
now?
Fidel and Raul Castro have taken up way too much time out of our local political discourse to
the exclusion of other issues that are more relevant to us on a daily basis. Let's put the Castros to the
side and tackle our real issues, and handle the Cuban consular question if and when it ever comes.
I am tired of politicians using the pain felt by the Cuban-American community for their own
politically-motivated purposes. If Miami Beach Commissioners are truly concerned about their
constituents and the future of their city, they should direct their attention to sea level rise and the
future environmental sustainability and survival of their city; they should focus on traffic, the need for
public transportation and the convention center project, all of which threaten jobs and the future
economic sustainability of Miami Beach.
Finally, I am also tired of the suggestion that a Cuban consulate in South Florida poses a
safety risk. This assumes that Cuban Americans are incapable or unwilling to act (even in protest) in a
manner that is dignified and fully respectful of our laws and the opinions of those who may disagree
with us. I am offended by such a suggestion.
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