May 5, 1999
U.S. Newswire, 3 May 12:46
BALTIMORE, May 3 /U.S. Newswire/ -- The Maryland Libertarian Party, the state's newest recognized political party, will rally outside Camden Yards tonight to protest the exhibition game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban National Baseball Team.
Libertarians favor lifting the U.S. embargo on Cuba. Yet Maryland party members see two things wrong with tonight's game. First they believe that the Orioles organization is using unfair labor practices in dealing with the Cuban government. They also believe that in light of huge taxpayer support, "corporate welfare" according to state party chair Steve Boone, it is unfair for attorney-owner Peter Angelos and the Orioles management to use tactics prohibiting free speech and demonstrations in connection with tonight's game.
The controversy surrounding the Orioles' reciprocal visits with the Cuban National Team is primarily based on a US embargo of Cuba that still exists. According to Boone the embargo is not the issue that needs to be addressed. Cuban-born Lorenzo Gaztanaga, Libertarian Party candidate for Baltimore City Council in the First District, explains "The embargo is a failed policy that's done nothing to weaken the cruel Castro regime. It should be ended, and quickly. Our best chance to free the Cuban people to live as they choose is to have no embargo and permit open and unrestricted travel, with no government-to-government foreign aid."
"But that's not the only reason for the demonstration," adds Boone, "What is especially upsetting is that Peter Angelos does not own Oriole Park at Camden Yards. It was built on the backs of taxpayers. Yet, he is only too willing to impose authoritarian limitations on the First Amendment rights of attendees or even people outside the ballpark. Clearly, that's out of line."
On the issue of labor practices and the Oriole organization, Gaztanaga added, "look at the Orioles vs. Cuban match to see the real intentions of the Castro regime. Cuban ball players have defected to freedom for years. Some, such as Livan Hernandez, cut multi-million dollar deals." According to Gaztanaga, "Castro can't wait to control how these deals are made. He wants to control the movements of Cuban ball players that come to play in this country." Gaztanaga says it's out of Peter Angelos' image as a friend of labor (the only owner who refused to use replacement players during the baseball strike) to be an enabler of Castro's style of serfdom. "Is this an attempt by Angelos to corner the Cuban player market by dealing with the Cuban devil Castro?" asks Gaztanaga.
According to Gaztanaga, the game played by the Orioles in Havana's Estadio Latinoamericano demonstrated the true nature of the Castro regime. "The Cubans hand-picked from the Cuban Communist Party's elite. This political, economic, and social discrimination has been part of the day-to-day life of the Cuban people for years. The same Cubans who work at world-class tourist hotels in Cuba are prohibited by law from patronizing those same hotels and restaurants with their families or friends. The embargo, if anything, helps solidify the power of the tiny Marxist elite that rules the Cuban people. This arrangement between a totalitarian regime and a big corporate welfare recipient is not the answer to Cuba's problems."
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/U.S. Newswire 202-347-2770/
05/03 12:46
Copyright 1999, U.S. Newswire
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