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Trouble in Florida

Relations continue to sour between the Bush administration and Cuban-Americans in South Florida, who voted overwhelmingly for George W. Bush in 2000.

Yesterday, a group of Florida Republican state representatives were expected to send a letter to the White House warning of political repercussions unless the administration adopts a tougher Cuba policy, the Miami Herald reports.

The letter "echoes demands expressed recently by other Cuban-Americans: revise current migration policy; indict Fidel Castro for the Brothers to the Rescue shoot-down; ensure that TV Marti is seen by people in Cuba; and increased assistance to dissidents on the island," Herald reporter Oscar Corral writes.

The letter, signed by 13 members of the state's Republican Hispanic Caucus, said in part: "We feel it is our responsibility as elected officials to inform you that unless substantial progress on the above-mentioned issues occurs rapidly, we fear the historic and intense support from Cuban-American voters for Republican federal candidates, including yourself, will be jeopardized."

Igniting anger among Cuban-Americans was the administration's decision last month to repatriate 12 Cubans who had hijacked a boat to Florida. The Castro regime promised not to execute the hijackers and to limit sentences to 10 years.

Trouble in Florida II

Otto Reich, a top U.S. official for the Western Hemisphere, was dispatched to South Florida last week to try to tamp down growing anger among Cuban-Americans over the repatriation of 12 Cubans who hijacked a boat to reach American shores.

But Mr. Reich's mission went awry when, in an interview on WSCV-Telemundo 51, he explained that Cubans need to be screened like other immigrants to avoid opening the United States to criminals and terrorists.