Government Interference May Have Had Role in Denying Protected Speech
April 6, 2011 ACLU of Florida Media Office, (786) 363-2737, media@aclufl.org
Miami – The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Greater Miami Chapter today called for an investigation of the potential misuse of office by Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell related to her role in the cancellation of the “Fuego Cuban Music Festival.”
The ACLU’s Greater Miami Chapter also strongly criticized any use of government and political pressure to block constitutionally protected free speech by the artists as well as the right the right to hear that speech by those who would have attended.
The “Fuego Cuban Music Festival” was scheduled to be held this Saturday, April 9, 2011, at Homestead-Miami Speedway but was cancelled by the Speedway under apparent pressure from Commissioner Bell who said she opposed the concert if it featured performers from Cuba – which the festival would have included.
“I would do everything within my power to stop that (concert),” Bell told Miami radio station Caracol AM1260. “We understand free speech,” Bell continued, “…but not when public facilities and public funds are being utilized.” (Audio link below)
“It’s really simple - music is speech,” said John de Leon, President of the Greater Miami Chapter of the ACLU, “When government officials try to block speech because they don’t like who is speaking, it’s certainly wrong and potentially illegal.”
Hugo Cancio and Patxi Pastor, who organized the concert, joined Howard Simon, Executive Director of the ACLU of Florida in calling for a thorough inquiry into whether improperly used her county authority to block the concert.
“Usually when you add two and two, you get four,” Simon said. “We don’t know yet if the Commissioner misused her office through threats or intimidation but it clearly cries out for a more serious inquiry and we’re asking for one.”
The Festival was cancelled when managers at the Homestead-Miami Speedway, which is owned by the City of Homestead, and managed by International Speedway Corporation (NASCAR) no longer made the facility available. The reasons and consequences of the cancellation are the subject of ongoing legal action but Speedway managers have claimed they were unaware the Festival featured Cuban music even though they approved advertising and promotional materials, include a billboard, posters and other items which clearly depicted the “Fuego Cuban Music Festival.”
“What is not in debate is the chilling impact cancelling this concert will have on speech and the free and open exchange of art and ideas,” Cancio said. “This concert was to be the first Cuban music festival outside of Cuba and was a once in a lifetime chance to bring this exciting music and these great artists to this community. But now that’s gone.”
"Whether real or not, even the appearance of government pressure and censorship of speech is deeply troubling,” de Leon said. “And there’s no question there’s at least an appearance that the government is deciding what kind of speech is allowed and what is not.”
In Commissioner Bell’s Radio Caracol interview, the host asked the Commissioner, “What do the organizers have to change in order for this to be allowed?”
“It always amazes me when politicians in our community act like dictators to protest a dictatorship and try to protest the lack of freedom elsewhere by denying it here,” Simon said. “The people of Cuba will not have one more liberty by declaring war on free speech in Miami.”
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Editor’s Note: Audio files of Miami-Dade Commissioner Lynda Bell’s interview with Radio Caracol discussing her efforts to block the “Fuego Cuban Music Festival” are here: http://www.aclufl.org/news_events/LyndaBell-FreeSpeech.mp3
http://www.aclufl.org/news_events/LyndaBell-FreeSpeech2.mp3
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