Miami Beach Democratic Mayor Philip Levine was in Cuba recently and was part of the crowd–as was St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman–when the Rays played the Cuban National Team. The outing was fortuitous for Levine. His plans had been made months in advance of the presidential-visit/baseball game announcements. But his trip also made history. It was the first official visit to Cuba by an elected official from Miami-Dade County since before the revolution.
Levine led a small entourage (that included Tufts University graduate students), toured Havana, dropped by the American Embassy and met with Cardinal Jaime Ortega and Gustavo Machin of the Cuban Foreign Relations Ministry. A major priority on his agenda: Helping to recruit a Cuban consulate to Miami Beach. Sheer proximity to so many South Florida Cubans keeps MB in the hunt.
And one other agenda detail. This proactive initiative will certainly come up if he decides to proceed with rumored plans for higher elected office.
Back to Estadio Latinomericano. Imagine this: Two Democratic mayors of prominent Florida cities with Cuban aspirations visit the island and check out a certain baseball exhibition involving a Tampa Bay team–and neither of them is from Tampa, Havana’s American soul mate.