By IPS Correspondents
MIAMI, Nov 1 2004 (IPS)

Strong, sure and honest. That is what many U.S. voters see in President George W Bush, including people not born in this country – while some of the incumbent’s backers exhibit less laudable qualities.

The president made a brief campaign appearance at the Coconut Grove Convention Centre here Sunday to rally his faithful two days before the end of a tight, tense presidential race.

This reporter and journalists from Brazil, the Czech Republic and Slovakia were refused entrance because, according to security officials, fire marshals were not allowing any more people into the building, media or otherwise.

Outside, Bush supporters who had not made it in to hear their candidate speak milled about, chanting and waving signs.

Along the entrance road to the convention centre, a crowd of a couple of hundred Bush partisans chanted slogans, while on the other side of the street a smaller group of protesters and supporters of the president’s main rival, Senator John Kerry, bellowed back.

“Four more years!” clashed with “Four more days!” in a deafening cacophony.

Why do you like President Bush? “He’s the only one who can do the job – all the rest don’t keep their word.”

What will Bush do if he wins? “He’ll keep on making things better, like he’s done up to now. And he doesn’t need to steal – he’s got plenty of money in his family.”

What about the war in Iraq and terrorism? “It’s all fine; it’s going very well with Bush. Both Bushes are good men, father and son. They’re modest, their wives are modest – not like the Democrats, who are shameless.”

How about U.S.-Cuba relations? “Cuba is a question for us, the Cubans, to resolve. The Americans are our friends, but they can’t overthrow Castro for us. Now, those people over there (indicating the pro-Kerry crowd), they want to let people send more money to Cuba again. Me, I’m against anything that will help Castro.”

A little further down the drive, a muscular, greying Cuban-American man chanted slogans in a strong, hoarse voice, a patch reading “Brigade 2506” on his sleeve.

The patch marked him as a member of the paramilitary unit of Cubans, supported by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who attempted to invade Cuba to overthrow the Castro government at the Bay of Pigs (Playa Girón) in 1961.

“I support Bush because he’s been against terrorism all the time. He’s the only one who’s stood up to fight terrorism. He was the one who began the whole campaign,” said the man in response to questions.

And how do you think the war against terrorism is going? “Great, really great.”

What do you think about the economy? (At this point, he switched to English.) “People want to blame Bush for the economy, but the economy went down because of the terrorists. They blame Bush for it, but that’s not right.”

What about U.S. policy towards Cuba? “I agree with (this) policy against Cuba, against Castro, you know. I was in the war, in the Bay of Pigs invasion, so all the time I’ve been against Castro.”

If Bush wins, what does the man think he will do about Cuba? “He’s going to make a hot politics against Castro. Kerry wants to make a negotiation with Castro. Kerry and Castro are the same. Down with Castro and Kerry, OK?”

On a hillock a short distance away from the duelling demonstrations, a trim, short-haired Haitian-American man, perhaps in his forties, wearing a well-tailored brown suit, declined to give his name but responded to questions in French.

His reasons for supporting Bush? “Practically, there’s no security on this earth, but down where we live (Haiti) you have to think about security, because the world there is turned upside down.”

“Nevertheless, President Bush is strong, and he does what he says he’s going to do – I don’t like people who flip-flop at all. Bush, for four years, from the moment he began, he sat down at his desk and began to do the things he said he’d do.”

“He’s strong, he keeps his word, he follows through, he’s honest: that’s why I support him,” added the man.

“Since the events in New York and Washington (the terrorist attacks of Sep. 11, 2001), just imagine: you begin a new job, it’s not easy. The president didn’t have experience, but he handled a difficult situation.”

What about the economy? “I don’t know, but anyway, the events of New York affected the economy too. Security is the most important thing. He took care of that situation; he deserves to be re-elected.”

On U.S. policy towards Haiti, the man was pessimistic: “I don’t think either side (Bush’s Republicans or Kerry’s Democrats) will help Haiti. I don’t think the U.S. president can help Haiti,” he added, blaming ex-Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide for the country’s problems.

After the rally, at a Cuban sidewalk café in downtown Coconut Grove, a woman who looked to be in her 30s, with long blonde hair and wearing a white T-shirt with the slogan “Sailing 2 Victory” along with a Bush button, struck up a conversation in English with a large group that appeared to be a Cuban-American family.

After chatting about the rally, she suggested that Michael Moore (director of the film ‘Fahrenheit 9/11’ and a prominent Bush critic who has promised to take camera crews to Florida to monitor polling stations) had been accused of abusing boys.

Democrats, the Bush backer added, are “the kind of people who want to put our children in preschool when they’re three, when they should be home with their mothers. They’ve always got their hands out. I pray to God Kerry isn’t elected.”

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