Ros-Lehtinen's zingers aided by singer

Published Thursday, October 9, 1997, in the Miami Herald

First Lady Hillary Clinton and Vice President Al Gore with Drug Smuggler Jorge Cabrera

Ros-Lehtinen's zingers aided by singer

By CAROL ROSENBERG
Herald Staff Writer

WASHINGTON -- The focus was on Asia on Wednesday as lawmakers at a House hearing raised questions about foreign influence on U.S. policy through campaign donations. Then Miami Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen got her turn:

The Republican posed questions about the Democratic Party's connections with Florida and Cuba in remarks highlighted by a splice of a song called Jorge at the Copa. The spoof, played from a big boombox, made jest of an already disclosed fund-raising overture between Cuban Americans held at Havana's posh Copacabana Hotel:

``At the Copa. Copacabana.

The DNC Spot in Havana.

At the Copa. Copacabana.

Big checks and favors were always the flavors at the Copa.''

The song, which a Ros-Lehtinen aide said has been aired on the conservative radio show of Rush Limbaugh, may have been congressional theatrics. But Ros-Lehtinen posed serious questions about ``alleged illicit contributions made by South Florida residents and their effects upon U.S.-Cuba relations.''

Why hadn't the Democratic National Committee checked out the origins of a $20,000 donation from convicted drug dealer Jorge Cabrera, who attended a fund-raiser also attended by Vice President Al Gore? Embarrassed by the revelation during last year's presidential campaign, the DNC returned the money to Cabrera, who is now serving a 19-year sentence at a federal prison for cocaine trafficking.

What was the connection between the attendance of Plantation businessman R. Warren Meddoff at a $1,500-a-plate Coral Gables fund-raiser Oct. 22 and President Clinton's decision to renew humanitarian aid flights to Cuba? Meddoff has testified before a Senate committee that, during the dinner, he told DNC fund-raisers about a friend who was willing to contribute $5 million -- and at the same time got near enough to the president to urge him to renew travel to Cuba. Flights resumed the same day, in what the White House called a coincidence.

What is the link between Key West businessman John Henry Cabanas, an admitted fan of Fidel Castro, and $62,000 in donations to the Democratic Party and its candidates? The Herald has reported that Cabanas worked for decades for Cuba's Marxist government. The Key West native, who lived in Cuba for 27 years before returning to the U.S. in 1988, is also founder of an airline charter company that arranges flights to Cuba.

``I hope that this committee examines to the fullest any intent by the Castro regime and its sympathizers in the United States of influencing U.S. policy toward the Cuban dictator,'' Ros-Lehtinen said.