> Wednesday October 4 6:08 PM ET
> Cuban Group Torn on Candidates
>
> By LAURENCE ARNOLD, Associated Press Writer
>
> WASHINGTON (AP) - A Cuban-American group influential in the battleground
> state of Florida agrees with Republican George W. Bush on the issues, but
> may withhold its endorsement because of its ties to Democratic vice
> presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman.
>
> ``We're torn,'' Joe Garcia, executive director of the Cuban American
> National Foundation, said Wednesday.
>
> Garcia said Bush is a better candidate and the Republican Party has a
> better platform on the issue of Cuba. But Lieberman is a longtime ally of
> the hard-line, anti-Castro foundation.
>
> The Connecticut senator has supported moves to block foreign investors from
> working in Cuba and to tighten the economic embargo on the island. He
> served on a commission created by the group's founder, Jorge Mas Canosa,
> that was charged with planning a market economy in a post-Castro era.
>
> ``Lieberman couldn't be closer to us. He's got a perfect voting record on
> Cuba,'' Garcia said.
>
> An endorsement by the Miami-based foundation could be significant in the
> race for the White House because Florida, home to roughly 1 million Cuban-
> Americans, is a battleground state. Polls show Bush and Gore running
> virtually even there.
>
> New Jersey, another state with a significant Cuban-American population, has
> been considered in play, although the latest polls give Gore a double-digit
> lead there.
>
> Even without an endorsement by the group, however, Bush will likely do well
> among Cuban-Americans, who normally tend to vote Republican. Garcia said
> Jorge Mas Santos, who succeeded his father as chairman of the foundation,
> personally supports Bush.
>
> The foundation also enjoys a close relationship with Bush's brother Jeb,
> the Republican governor of Florida.
>
> For most of its 20-year existence, the nonprofit Cuban American National
> Foundation registered with the Internal Revenue Service as a research and
> education organization. Contributions were tax-deductible, but the group
> could not engage in political activity.
>
> Garcia said the foundation changed its registration last year to become a
> lobbying organization, free to endorse but no longer able to attract tax-
> deductible donations.
>
> Garcia said many Cuban-Americans would like the foundation to endorse
> George W. Bush as punishment for the Democrats after President Clinton's
> actions in the case of Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban boy sent home
> with his father after being shipwrecked on his way to the United States.
>
> Gore broke with Clinton on the issue by advocating permanent residency for
> the boy and was criticized by many Democrats .
>
> But Garcia said, ``Gore unfortunately bears a responsibility because he
> takes credit for a lot of the positives that Clinton has done, so he has
> to bear some of the brunt now on this issue.''
>
> Garcia praised the Republican Party's platform, which calls for a
> continuation of the embargo against Cuba, ``active American support for
> Cuban dissidents'' and continued funding for U.S. broadcasts to the island.
>
> Bush has said he opposes lifting sanctions, while Gore has said he favors
> more contacts with Cubans ``without helping the Castro government.''
>
> Garcia said the group has met with the Republican nominee four times over
> the last year. ``You could not ask for a better candidate on the issues,''
> he said. ``He knows the subject, he's good on the issues.''