Los Van Van, the popular Cuban dance band whose upcoming Miami concert was canceled Friday, will perform in South Florida, either by winning a court challenge to play at the James L. Knight Center or finding a venue in another city, band representatives vowed Saturday.

Rather than back down, Los Van Van's U.S. backers say they are primed for a fight with the city of Miami and Globe Facility Services, the private company that manages the Knight Center for the city.

Debbie Ohanian, the Miami Beach promoter producing the concert, said city officials had led her to believe everything was in order for the Oct. 9 show before Globe Facility, acting on a memo from the city, informed her she had to supply additional documentation proving that Los Van Van was complying with federal law by not profiting from the tour.

The group has permission from the State Department and the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service to tour in the United States, and has been playing here since Sept. 3.

Globe Facility officials gave Ohanian one day to supply the information, which Ohanian said was impossible. Los Van Van has not had to provide such documentation in any other city.

Maria Zenoz, president of the band's New York-based label, Havana Caliente, said she would go to court to win the right to play at the Knight Center. The American Civil Liberties Union also is planning to go to court on the band's behalf, said John de Leon, the group's Miami area president.

``This is an obvious attempt by the city of Miami to prevent Van Van from performing in Miami, which they are lawfully able to do,'' de Leon said. ``It appears that the management company at the Knight Center was prepared to execute a contract for Van Van to perform until city officials pressured them into canceling the concert for political reasons.''

Intent on playing in South Florida, the band also is looking at possible sites in West Palm Beach, Hollywood or Fort Lauderdale, in case the court challenge is not successful, Zenoz said. The South Florida concert would be the 26th and final show on a five-week tour that began in Denver. Los Van Van was scheduled to play in Los Angeles Saturday night.

Although once an unthinkable prospect, numerous Cuban bands have played in the Miami area in recent years. But Wednesday's announcement that Los Van Van was coming to the Knight Center prompted protests from the exile community on radio and denunciations by Mayor Joe Carollo and Miami City Commissioner Tomas Regalado.

Federal requirements

But ultimately, it was City Attorney Alejandro Vilarello's memo, written at the request of City Manager Donald Warshaw's staff, that caused Globe Facility to cancel the concert. Vilarello got involved because the city owns the Knight Center and the band did not yet have a contract with Globe Facility, which manages Knight for the city.

In his Thursday memo, Vilarello said he found no evidence that the band had complied with federal requirements.

Under the band's visa, it can only be paid a per diem, which is $50 to $125 for the tour, and have its travel expenses covered.

William Martinez, a San Francisco-based attorney representing the band, challenged Vilarello's memo, saying in a letter that he had been assured by State Department officials that Los Van Van's tour was considered legal. Moreover, he wrote, the additional proof that Vilarello asked for was unprecedented.

``My office has arranged for visas for hundreds of Cuban [and non-Cuban] artists in the past several years. We have never been required to secure any additional approval or proof to present the artists in our communities.''

`Wrong 100 times'

Asked to respond to Martinez on Saturday, Vilarello said: ``He's done it wrong then a hundred times, and that they didn't comply with the law elsewhere, shame on the others. All we're asking them to do is comply with the law.''

Vilarello, 41, lost his father at the Bay of Pigs fighting in an attempted overthrow of the Castro government.

The city attorney said he had no political motives. He said he was simply interpreting the law in the case, noting that he had been sharply attacked by listeners on Cuban radio and by Mayor Carollo for saying in Thursday's memo that the city had no legal authority to halt a concert that complied with the law.

The ACLU's de Leon said it is not up to the city of Miami to determine whether federal law is being obeyed. ``It's up to the federal government to enforce federal laws. . . . Our government has determined that this sort of event is lawful, and the city is not allowed to try to undermine the federal laws.''

Fans of Van Van's music question why the band should not be allowed to play here. ``When I started listening to Cuban music I fell in love with it, and it was like a dream come true to see Los Van Van,'' said Omar Caraballo, 23, a Cuban-American salsa dance teacher. ``Miami is part of the U.S., not part of Cuba, and we have freedom of choice here. Los Van Van has played in all these cities in the U.S., why can't they play here?''
e-mail:
tbridges@herald.com; jlevin@herald.com