Back on March 25th I posted an item here about Gloria Estefan's involvement in a Miami march supporting Las Damas de Blanco, a brave group of women whose husbands, fathers, and sons are among those innocents who were tossed in Castro's infamously cruel jails back in 2003 for opposing the Communist regime.That was certainly a noble thing to do.
However, many in the Cuban and Cuban-American communities are now deeply bothered by the Estefan's hosting at their home tonight a glitzy fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee.
Veteran journalist (and Cuban-born) Jackie Bueno Sousa writes in her Miami Herald column that Emilio and Gloria Estefan have thus broken "a bond that had united them with Miami's Cuban community, whose members largely oppose the president's agenda." Sousa continues:
The Estefans, for their part, have implied that they're simply using the opportunity to increase awareness about the Cuban people's plight. What's more, they note that they believe in supporting good candidates regardless of party.
They would have a convincing argument except for one very important detail: The event isn't merely a conversation about Cuba with the president while sipping a cortadito. Nor is it designed to raise funds for a particular cause or candidate they support.
They are hosting a $30,400-a-couple fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee, and, by extension, helping to fund the entire Democratic Party agenda. It's a proactive, partisan stance that goes well beyond, say, deciding to sing at a presidential inauguration or accepting a presidential appointment to oversee a nonpartisan cause.
Mention the Estefans and many no longer conjure up images of freedom and catchy tunes. Now -- rightly or wrongly -- many associate the name with Obamacare, abortion, powerful unions, creation of a welfare state...
The announcement that they would host the fundraiser for the president was only hours old when I started hearing friends and relatives talk about throwing away all their Gloria Estefan CDs. Soon bloggers were labeling them as traitors. In one swoop, all the good will they had built with so many followers, all the years of supporting nonpartisan causes such as freedom and human rights, seemed to disappear. In many ways, that's not fair to the couple, who have done so many good things to help our community.
Yet the reaction also is a reminder that, like freedom, celebrity can be a two-edged sword, best wielded with careful forethought. The Estefans, like all celebrities, have the right to support a particular candidate, to support a particular cause. Just as it's their right to support a political party.
Not supporting the Estefans in their effort, well, that's everyone else's right...
