Protesters in Miami oppose restoring ties to Cuba

MIAMI - Cuban opposition leaders from the island joined Cuban American politicians and activists Saturday, pledging to oppose President Obama's plan to normalize relations with the communist nation and disputing the notion that their community is split by a generational divide.

"The opposition will continue fighting, with or without Barack Obama," Cuban activist Jorge Luis Garcia Perez said to cheers.

The gathering at a Little Havana park drew more than 200 people, largely older Cuban exiles who chanted, "Obama, traitor!" and waved U.S. and Cuban flags. Some expressed disappointment the protest was not larger; the demonstrators filled about half the park.

"The mentality is, 'Hey, we're going to be able to buy Cuban cigars and rum.' Well, it's not a happy thing for us," said Armando Merino, 68, who came to the U.S. at age 14. "I'm here because, for the Cuban people, my family in Cuba, they are not able to protest."

The protest featured two high-profile Cuban dissidents: Garcia Perez, who spent 17 years in jail for his activities and who has gone on hunger strikes to protest the treatment of political prisoners, and Berta Soler, spokeswoman for the Ladies in White, a group of Cuban mothers and wives of dissidents arrested in the 2003 government crackdown on the island.

Soler said a normalized relationship between Cuba and the U.S. would "perfect the repressive mechanism of the Cuban government."

"Cuba needs freedom, and that freedom depends on the Cubans," she said.

Cuban American speakers included Republican former U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Florida and State Sen. Anitere Flores. Both argued that Obama's gestures would do nothing to improve the prospects of a democratic Cuba.

"The worst infamy is the pretext he used: He says it's to help the Cuban people," Diaz-Balart said to laughter from the audience.

Flores, 38, one of the youngest Cuban American politicians in a state or federal office, rejected what some recent polls have shown: that although many older Cubans stand firm in their opposition to ending the embargo, younger generations are increasingly in favor of loosening sanctions.

"Our generation feels as strongly and in some cases even more strongly than our parents," she said.

After Obama made his announcement, a poll conducted for the Miami Herald and Tampa Bay Times indicated Cuban Americans were almost evenly split on whether to support his plan, with 48 percent of respondents saying they disagreed and 44 percent agreeing.

The poll showed large divides between younger and older Cuban Americans and whether they were born on the island or in the United States. Those born in the U.S. strongly supported Obama's plan; those born in Cuba strongly opposed it. Cuban Americans under 65 also supported the plan, and those over 65 were strongly against it.

Rey Anthony Lastre, 18, said he believed more young people weren't at the protest because they "don't have the same way of expressing their feelings."

Freddy Suastegui, 31, of Miami, listened to the speeches with his family. He said the latest decisions disregarded the work being done to promote change in Cuba.