Wallace: Nelson's tune on Cuba quietly changes

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Although U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio blasted the deal that led to the Cuban government releasing American contractor Alan Gross, Florida’s senior U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson — once a staunch defender of the trade embargo with Cuba — quietly worked with other world leaders over the last year and a half, seeking to help lay the groundwork for the deal that emerged last Wednesday.

Nelson, a Democrat, said that in August 2013 he met with Haitian President Michel Martelly and encouraged Martelly to bring up Gross in his next state meeting with Cuban leader Raul Castro.

Nelson said Martelly did exactly that and called him back after the meeting a short time later.

“He said, ‘Raul said he is ready to talk,’ ” Nelson said in recalling the conversation.

“I passed that on immediately to the National Security Council,” Nelson said.

Nelson also sought Cuba’s permission to visit Gross in prison, an appeal he said was rejected.

Nelson’s message through Martelly would have hit the White House months after out-going Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had reportedly been pushing President Barack Obama to reconsider the trade embargo against Cuba. And that same summer, two top Obama aides began meeting with their Cuban counterparts in secret meetings in Canada.

Nelson said he doesn’t know if his work with Haiti’s president helped in any direct way in securing freedom for Gross. During his Cuba announcement on Wednesday, Obama did not make mention of either Nelson or Martelly.

Over the years, Nelson, like most elected officials in Florida, backed the embargo with little question. But this week, Nelson struck a very different tone, questioning the embargo’s effectiveness and supporting Obama’s decision to restore diplomatic relations with Cuba.

“I’m as anti-Castro as anyone,” Nelson said. “But it’s time to get into the 21st century.”

Nelson said U.S. policy aimed at isolating Cuba to break its police state just hasn’t worked and the U.S. must consider other options.

But Nelson stressed he isn’t for lifting the embargo without big democratic reforms in Cuba.

“If this brings about reforms in Cuba, then this is a monumental step,” Nelson said.

He said if Cuba does what it needs to, there will be an economic renaissance in the island nation and in the United States — particularly in Florida.

While Nelson supports the easing of restrictions and establishing better relations with Cuba, the two U.S. House members who represent this area were adamantly opposed.

“Revisiting relations with a Castro regime that has long been designated a state sponsor of terrorism is irresponsible and sends the wrong message to dictators across the globe,” U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, said on Friday.

U.S. Rep. Tom Rooney, a Republican who represents all of Charlotte County and part of Manatee, said the Castro regime is on its last legs and the U.S. should not be opening up economic activity that could ultimately help keep them in power.

“President Obama’s policy changes will empower the Castro regime, set back efforts to bring freedom and democracy to Cuba and other Latin American nations, and compromise America’s national security,” said Rooney, a member of the House Intelligence Committee.

Few members of Congress from Florida have been outspoken in support of expanding relations with Cuba. Many hailed the release of Gross, but stopped short of publicly supporting Obama’s plan to improve communication with Cuba.

One of the exceptions was U.S. Rep. Kathy Castor, a Tampa Democrat.

“As Americans, we fought two wars with Germany, experienced a terrible conflict with Vietnam and have been able to move forward each time based on concerns for the people of those countries,” Castor said. “It is long past time that we do the same for the people of Cuba.”Barney Frank in Sarasota

The man who helped lead the sweeping reforms of the U.S. financial industry after the nation’s financial meltdown is coming to Sarasota.

Former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass., is the scheduled keynote speaker at the Sarasota Democratic Party’s annual Kennedy-King fundraising dinner in early 2015.

Frank, who spent 32 years in Congress, was the lead House sponsor of the Dodd-Frank Act that passed in 2010 in response to the Great Recession. Among other things, the bill created new agencies in a bid to streamline the regulatory process, promised to increased oversight of financial institutions and called for more transparency in the financial markets.

The Frank event in Sarasota is set for March 1 with more details to be released later.

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Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years. He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966. ""More Wallace" Make sure to "Like" HT Politics on Facebook for all your breaking political news.
Last modified: December 20, 2014
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