TAMPA, Fla. — After days of demonstrations in Cuba and in our area, Tampa City Council passed a resolution to show their support for peaceful demonstrations on the island.
Councilman Luis Viera presented the resolution, saying “this should not be controversial."
But…it was.
The resolution was just a little over 2 pages long, but it created an hour of discussion at the council meeting.
“I have never seen a resolution discussed at this length in my 20 something years of service,” councilman Charlie Miranda said at one point during the meeting.
Viera said the resolution was written to let people in Cuba know Tampa has their back.
"We’re dealing with a country that’s denying people basic fundamental rights," he said.
But Councilman Bill Carlson felt the resolution would be more effective if it were simplified to one sentence.
“Let’s say simply, ‘The Tampa City Council fully supports the Cuban people and their efforts to gain political and economic freedom,'” Carlson said.
While Viera’s resolution does not mention going to war or violence, Carlson said he’s worried too much inflammatory rhetoric could be used to promote military involvement.
“The problem with this particular resolution is it has lots of inflamed rhetoric that is unnecessary and could be used by someone to justify war,” he said.
Viera’s resolution eventually passed this morning 5-2, with Carlson and Dingfelder voting against it.
“When you’ve got a resolution that deals with protecting the basic fundamental rights of Cubans, somehow that becomes controversial," Viera said. "I don’t know why, but it is what it is.”
Albert Fox Jr. from the Alliance for Responsible Cuba Policy Foundation says the best way to help isn’t through supportive resolutions, it’s by pushing to get rid of the embargo between Cuba and the United States.
“We embargo that country, we deny medical supplies to got to that country," he said. "To me it begs the question, 'How does that help the people of Cuba?'”
At the end of the meeting, the council voted to make the resolution a single sentence.
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