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What Elián learned at Georgetown
Unlike Cuban homes, American houses have swimming pools in the basement.
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[05/11/00]

A little boy's night on the town
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[05/10/00]

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[05/09/00]

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[05/09/00]

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But the Cuban-American voting majority defeated that effort overwhelmingly, rather than lose its political power base. In that same election, Xavier Suarez was elected mayor in a runoff against Carollo. But the courts later ruled that many of Suarez's absentee ballots were illegal -- including at least one cast by a dead man -- and Carollo was declared the winner.

Then City Commissioner Humberto Hernandez, a Suarez ally and the young darling of the exile community, was convicted of voter fraud, as were other campaign workers. Hernandez remains in prison on that and other charges involving mortgage fraud. With the backing of the courts, Carollo swept back into office, the city started recovering from its economic travails and settled down, to a degree.

Earlier this year, political foes of Carollo tried to rewrite the city charter so that he would have to face reelection this year and not next, as scheduled. A judge turned them down and trouble at City Hall subsided.

But then came Elián and the war over his custody, an issue that has divided Cubans and non-Cubans more than any other in the city's history. During the standoff, Carollo and County Mayor Alex Penelas both proclaimed that their police departments would not aid the feds in removing Elián from Miami, declarations that gained them nationwide notoriety and the outrage of non-Cuban South Floridians.

"Ever since then Penelas has been trying to pull his foot out of his mouth while Carollo has been shoving his farther in," says Coconut Grove activist Glenn Terry, another leader of the recall movement. "Some Cubans take offense when Miami is called a banana republic, but a banana republic is an entity run by irresponsible and unpredictable people. That's what we have here. This isn't anti-Cuban. In fact we need the support of those Cubans who see the need for change. Crazy Joe is getting crazier."

Carollo has been known as "Crazy Joe" for much of his checkered political career. His résumé includes work for George Wallace during the 1976 presidential campaign, a stint on the county police force and a seat on the City Commission at the tender age of 24. During that first stint on the commission he systematically made enemies at almost every level of civic life. He called the police chief "a two-bit punk. "

He also won the enmity of Cuban exile patriarch Jorge Mas Canosa, founder of the powerful Cuban American National Foundation, by revealing that a would-be business partner of Mas Canosa's in a city deal had ties to communists in Europe. Mas Canosa, who said he felt he was being red-baited, challenged Carollo to a duel. Carollo declined, but still ended up with the moniker "Crazy Joe."

"And who can argue with the fact that Joe is bananas," said Glenn Terry. Terry spoke at a small rally in Peacock Park in Coconut Grove, where the new Citizens for a Better Miami was cranking up its recall campaign. The group sold banana cake to raise funds and folks threw rotting bananas at a likeness of Carollo. Terry referred to Carollo as "a paranoid fruitcake" and made up a recall campaign anthem to the tune of "I'm a Little Teapot." It's called "I'm a Little Despot."

Recall organizers say they hope to have Carollo out of office by November. Marie Petit, who lives across town from De Pontis in Belle Mead and also worked in Carollo's past campaigns, has joined the recall movement.

"In the past it has been hard to get some people around here involved in politics," she said. "The Cuban-Americans are a majority of the voters in the city, about 60 percent, and the candidates come out of that population. Many voters just didn't want to see two Cubans beating up on each other. But I think the whole Elián think has changed the climate. People are angry. I think this recall movement is a serious one."

But not everyone believes the recall campaign can work. "The fact is, Joe is stronger than he has ever been," said Tucker Gibbs, a Coconut Grove civic leader. "People say he's crazy, but what he's done is really very smart. He has overwhelming support in the Cuban community now. Lots of people won't sign those petitions. It's a McCarthyite thing. They'll be frightened."

Jude Bagatti, who attended the Coconut Grove rally, said she wouldn't be afraid to take the petitions door to door. "I don't like people who fly American flags and then act like fascists," she said. "He's gotta go."
salon.com | May 11, 2000

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