Sunday, July 16, 2000
Section: Local
Edition: Final
Page: 2B
BY ELAINE DE VALLE, edevalle@herald.com
Memo: LAST NIGHT
BY ELAINE DE VALLE
Silvia Morini Heath's life unfolded in front of more than 600 people Saturday
night on a screen at the Miami-Dade Community College Wolfson Campus.
The standing-room-only audience laughed, nodded and rumbled irately as they
watched Our House in Havana, a documentary of Morini's first trip back to
Cuba after 37 years in exile - and the change of heart she had about the U.S.
embargo upon her return.
``I hope for windows to open,'' Morini said, sitting in the front row of the
theater, surrounded by family.
``Opening windows and lifting the embargo doesn't mean that you accept
Castro's rule. The embargo simply isn't working. Castro isn't suffering. He and
his people live like kings. It's the pueblo that's suffering. It's so sad to see
what's happened in Cuba.''
Many in the crowd seemingly agreed - grumbling at the deteriorated buildings.
They also laughed at many scenes - such as when Morini's jaw drops upon
hearing a tour-bus guide say the Mafia built the National, Riviera and other
luxury pre-Castro hotels.
And they applauded loudly when a priest she visited said the embargo should
not end. ``As long as Fidel is here, nothing will change,'' he told her.
But many did agree with Morini's new point of view.
``It's time the embargo ends,'' said Marta Romero, who left Cuba in 1955, before
the exodus that followed Fidel's rise to power. ``We've seen that it doesn't
work.''
Morini only decided to come to Wolfson's Cuban Cinema Series showing of the
film - which will air nationally on July 25 on PBS - five days ago.
``I'm not a leader. What I do is voice my opinion,'' she said, admitting she was a
bit afraid of Miami's reaction to her newfound mind-set.
``OK, I was a little nervous. I thought they were going to kill me in the street,''
she said. ``In New York, I was hit with a few insults. But I answered back -
delightedly.
``Here, I've had nothing but support. People tell me, ``We're here, we're with you."
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