The Tampa City Council spent more than an hour on Thursday debating, what appeared at first glance, to be a non-controversial resolution sponsored by City Councilman Luis Viera showing support for the Cuban people in their protests against their government.
They ultimately approved it on a 5-2 vote.
What You Need To Know
- The Tampa Bay area is home to the third largest population of Cuban-Americans in the U.S.
- Luis Viera is the son of Cuban refugees
- Councilman Bill Carlson introduced his own resolution to show support for the Cuban people
- Previous Coverage: City of Tampa resolution would give official support to protests against Cuban government
City Councilman Bill Carlson objected even before Viera officially introduced the resolution, saying the language in it could be used to justify war.
“Since the Miami Mayor has proposed an invasion, which essentially is war, any inflammatory rhetoric could be used to justify that, and I thought that we should strip that inflammatory rhetoric out of it,” Carlson told Spectrum Bay News 9 after the council broke for lunch.
Carlson was referring to comments made earlier this week by Miami Mayor Francis Suarez, who said that the U.S. government should consider military action to enact regime change in Cuba.
Early sparks at #Tampa City Council meeting after @CouncilmanViera mentions his resolution in support of the Cuban people can be heard. Councilman @carlsonbill calls it a "publicity stunt" and says there should be a robust discussion on measures to actually help the Cuban people.
— Mitch Perry (@MitchPerry18) July 15, 2021
But Viera, whose parents are Cuban refugees, took strong exception to Carlson’s comments.
“This is a resolution that is about as controversial as eating a hot dog at Yankee Stadium. There’s nothing controversial about it whatsoever,” Viera said.
He disputed that there was any inflammatory rhetoric in his proposal, saying that Carlson’s comments were as “grossly irresponsible” as Suarez were. And he referred to Wednesday’s press conference in Jose Marti Park on Wednesday, where Viera joined Congresswoman Kathy Castor in calling for a peaceful transfer of power in Havana.
Carlson elaborated afterwards that he believes the city can do more to help out the Cuban people, citing how some organizations and nonprofits have been providing syringes to Cuba to help vaccinate the population against COVID-19.
“There are many things that we can do — not only syringes and humanitarian aid, but other humanitarian aid also,” Carlson said.
John Dingfelder was the only other council member who voted against the resolution. He did not make any comments on his vote.
During the public hearing portion of the meeting, there were several people who spoke in support of the resolution, but there were also dissenters, who said that the real issue remained the U.S. embargo against the Cuban government.
The council was scheduled to vote later on Thursday on Carlson’s own-pro Cuban resolution.
“My support is for the Cuban people which my resolution says emphatically,” he said. “I think a simple resolution, simply stated, is much more powerful than two pages of rhetoric.”
Carlson’s resolution was ultimately approved unanimously.