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CNN Live At Daybreak

Little Havana Unsure of Approach, United in Goal: No Castro

Aired May 21, 2002 - 05:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: John Zarrella went into Miami's Little Havana neighborhood for reaction to Mr. Bush's comments on Cuba. Here's what he found.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PEDRO BELLO CIGAR STORE OWNER: We advertise in "Cigar Aficionado."

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Pedro Bello owns a cigar company in Miami's Little Havana. Like the majority in this city's Cuban exile community, Bello voted for President Bush, supports the hard-line approach to Cuba, but wishes it could be even tougher.

BELLO: It's not enough, but it helps. It helps the Cubans who immigrated to the United States to know, hey, we have a president that we vote for and he's backing us up 100 percent. That makes you feel good that -- that makes us feel like we made the right decision when it came time to vote for him.

ZARRELLA: But Bello also fits the profile of an increasing number of Cuban-Americans. He struggles in his own heart and mind to figure out whether the 40-year-old trade embargo is doing any good.

BELLO: So, yes, we have an embargo for the United States to Cuba, but everybody is still visiting Cuba and bringing dollars to Cuba, doing business with Cuba. They just do it through a third country.

ZARRELLA: That's not the kind of talk Ninosa Perez wants to hear. Perez hosts a radio show on Spanish language WQBA. Fervently anti-Castro, she founded the Cuban Liberty Council. For her, the Bush administration's approach, no easing of sanctions until Cuba holds truly free elections, is the only way to deal with Castro.

NINOSA PEREZ, RADIO HOST: The economy in Cuba is not a secret to anyone that it's a totally -- it's a country in bankrupt. And if we throw that lifeline to Castro now, it will only, you know, grant him more time. So I think this is the precise moment to impose those sanctions, make sure that they work, and that Castro will be forced, as other dictators have been, to open up to hold elections in Cuba. And to at least allow the people to have freedom of expression.

MAX CASTRO, COLUMNIST: I think this is an early birthday gift for Fidel Castro.

ZARRELLA: A birthday gift, because "President Bush's tough talk," says Cuban exile and columnist Max Castro, "plays right in the hands to Fidel Castro."

CASTRO: The message that was sent to the Cuban government is simply to same more of the same. We'll continue here to resist. And I can continue to tell the Cuban people that we are facing an arrogant power telling us how to conduct our political affairs. And, therefore, we cannot give an inch.

ZARRELLA: With neither side, U.S. or Cuba, giving an inch, the exile community may be divided in its view, but it's united in the hope that it's only a matter of time before Fidel Castro is gone.

John Zarrella, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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