FIU President Releases Statement After Miami-Dade Commissioner Slams College for Sponsoring ‘Anti-Cuban Rhetoric’ Event

Published Dec. 2, 2022, 11:09 a.m. ET | Updated Aug. 10, 2023

Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera.
Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Cabrera.

MIAMI-DADE (FLV) – Florida International University (FIU) President Ken Jessell released a statement after Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kevin Marino Cabrera condemned FIU’s Cuban Research Institute for welcoming an “anti-Cuban rhetoric” book event.

The event is called Cuban Privilege – the making of Cuban Inequality in America, hosted by author Susan Eckstein. It will take place Friday, Dec. 9.

Cabrera, condemning the event, said, “It is shocking that FIU’s Cuban Research Institute would welcome such hate-filled, inflammatory, anti-Cuban rhetoric to Miami-Dade county, home to the largest Cuban diaspora and the global capital of Cuban-American exiles who have experienced first-hand the repression of the brutal Castro-Communist dictatorship.” 

“It pains me to see that one of our public Universities would give credence to those repeating the Castro regime’s talking points,” he went on.

Florida’s Voice confirmed with Cabrera’s office that the event being spoken about in the press release is the Cuban privilege event on Dec. 9 at FIU.

The event flyer says the following:

For over half a century, the U.S. granted Cubans, one of the largest immigrant groups in the country, unique entitlements. While other unauthorized immigrants faced detention, deportation, and no legal rights, Cuban immigrants were able to enter the country without authorization, and have access to welfare benefits and citizenship status.

This book is the first to reveal the full range of entitlements granted to Cubans. Initially privileged to undermine the Castro-led revolution in throes of the Cold War, one U.S. President after another extended new entitlements, even in the post-Covid war era.

Comparing the exclusionary treatment of neighboring Haitians, the book discloses the racial and political biases embedded within U.S. Immigration policy.

Cuban Research Institute Event Flyer

Jessell released a statement saying:

After learning of the event several days ago, it became clear to me that we had the opportunity to enhance it by including other points of view so that we could have a balanced and objective discussion. The event now ensures that we meet the academic rigor and standards of debate and preserve everyone’s right to express their point of view while remaining mindful and sensitive to the experiences of our community.

FIU President Ken Jessell

Jessell says the spokesperson for the Cuban Democratic Directorate and Author of “Cuba: The Doctrine of the Lie,” will participate as the discussant.

A previous speech surfaced on social media showing Eckstein speaking at Boston University in 2009, in which some social media users claim she is spreading ‘hate against Cubans.’

“She is doing what the Democrats do best, spread hate against Cubans. No one has paid as high a prize for their success as Cubans in this country and bigots posing as academics do the dirty job of trying to discredit us,” said Radio Mambi political commentator Ninoska Perez Castellon.

The author of the book, Susan Eckstein, told Florida’s Voice that the book is “not hate-filled, inflammatory, or anti-Cuban.”

“It is a scholarly, deeply researched study of US Cuban immigration policy over the last 60 years,” she continued.

The event will be held on Dec. 9 at 7:00 p.m. at FIU’s Modesto A. Maidique Campus at the Wertheim Performing Arts Center.

Florida International University is a public university with its main campus in Miami-Dade County. It is the fifth-largest public university in the United States by enrollment.

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