Obama calls for easing Cuba embargo

But what really may have given the canvassing board pause was a sight that strikes fear in any Florida politician, especially elected Dade County judges like Lawrence King, the board's chairman: angry Cuban voters. They marched on the Clark Center after a conservative radio station, Radio Mambi, broadcast interviews with two Cuban-American G.O.P. members of Congress, Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who decried the board's moves. For Miami's Cubans, almost 80% of whom voted for Bush, this election is mostly about avenging Elian Gonzalez. One of Judge King's paid political consultants is Armando Gutierrez, the man who distributed the Orwellian videotape of Elian denouncing his father last spring.

Democrats last week called for a federal probe of the incident. Sources close to Democratic Miami-Dade Mayor Alex Penelas tell TIME that a G.O.P. intermediary, Miami political consultant Herman Echevarria--at the behest of state Republican leaders--tried to approach Penelas Wednesday morning to see if the mayor "might talk" to the canvassing board. The sources say Penelas preferred to stay out of it. (Dade elections supervisor David Leahy, a board member, also works for Penelas.)
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CONTESTING THE VOTE: MIAMI-DADE COUNTY; Miami Mayor's Role a Riddle In Decision to Halt Recount


December 1, 2000, Friday
By DON VAN NATTA JR. AND DEXTER FILKINS (NYT); National Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 4, 1923 words

- Some Democrats suspect that Miami Mayor Alex Penelas, himself a Democrat, either influenced Miami-Dade County Canvassing Board's decision to halt recount of presidential ballots or, through inaction, created political room for canvassers to stop hand tally; say privately that Penelas double-crossed Vice Pres Al Gore to advance his own political future; Penelas had lunch with Republican state legislator even as county's hand recount was racking up dozens of new votes for Gore; later, he met with other Republican lawmwkers, who are significant to him because Florida's Legislature will draw new Congressional districts in 2002 and Penelas has hopes of running for Congress; Penelas says he had nothing to do with decision to halt recount; phone records released by his office suggest mayor was working both sides of political fight after the election, especially in days surrounding last week's canceled recount.