His name was nearly synonymous with the Cuban-American community he represented, and his death has left many wondering who can take his place.
On Monday, thousands mourned the passing of Jorge Mas Canosa, 58, the man who almost single-handedly transformed Cuban exile politics from a local obsession into a national force no politician could ignore.
But as supporters and detractors paid their final respects, they also took note of an emerging power vacuum.
More Top Picks Best Blackdecker Refrigerators
“In any enterprise, when a central, overpowering personality disappears, things can never be the same,” said Joaquin Roy, a professor of international studies at the University of Miami.
Who will step forward to claim leadership of the movement dominated for more than a decade by Mas? One name being mentioned Monday was that of his oldest son, Jorge Mas Jr., 34. Another strong contender is Republican Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart of Miami.
In the short run, most observers predicted, the leadership will be fragmented, with any number of Cuban-Americans moving to center stage in a variety of roles.
“This will be a test of the degree to which the new power of the Cuban-American community is institutionalized and can transition to new leadership, as opposed to being a power that is unique to one person,” said Sen. Bob Graham (D-Fla.).
Largely on the force of his personality, Mas built the Cuban American National Foundation into the most powerful anti-Castro exile group in America.
The group was founded by Mas and others in 1981 and its greatest success was in toughening the U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and increasing pressure on the Castro regime.
The foundation continues to wield power and influence. Mas’ physician and longtime political associate, Dr. Alberto Hernandez, has been named interim chairman. The question remains whether he and others at the foundation’s helm can reach the same ears at the national level as Mas did.
“They don’t have the name recognition. They don’t have the political access,” said Max Castro, a senior researcher at the University of Miami.
An early test of the new leadership’s clout will come next year when Congress debates proposed humanitarian exceptions to the Cuban embargo. Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) is leading an attempt to allow food and medical exports to Cuba so the most vulnerable of its citizens don’t suffer the worst consequences of economic sanctions.
When Congress debates the Dodd proposal, Mas will not be there to lead the fight against it.
“This will be an early test of how the politics have changed,” said Philip Brenner, a Cuba specialist and professor of international relations at American University in Washington.
Those who advocate change in U.S. policy toward Cuba say Mas’ death opens the way for new leadership and a change in the status quo. But those exiles who hold more traditional views say their cause is larger than one man.
“When Washington died, the American Revolution went ahead. I think we Cubans will go ahead with his (Mas’) ideas and vision,” said Miami radio personality Tomas Garcia Fuste.
The Cuban government agrees. Mas’ death is not expected to lead to a softening in U.S. policy toward Cuba, a senior official of the Cuban parliament said Monday.
“There is no expectation that the policy might change,” Lazaro Barredo Medina, vice president of the international relations committee of the Cuban National Assembly, told Reuters.
The Cuban government, meanwhile, made no official comment on the death of Mas, who frequently was vilified by the island’s state media as a leader of what they called “the counterrevolutionary Mafia of Miami.”
The official workers’ daily Trabajadores on Monday carried the news of Mas’ death under the headline “Mas Canosa, well-known counterrevolutionary, dies.” State TV also reported his death.
On Sunday night, a tearful Jorge Mas Jr. announced his father’s death and pledged to carry on his work. One night earlier, he had addressed the Cuban American National Foundation’s annual gala in his father’s place.
“I’ll do whatever the foundation asks of me,” said the younger Mas, who runs the family’s extensive business enterprises.
Messages of sympathy poured in from around the world Monday. Mas’ friends and allies included Argentine President Carlos Menem, Nicaraguan President Arnoldo Aleman and former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher.
Meanwhile, Mas’ memorial service Monday in Miami drew thousands, including a sizable contingent of Florida political figures, among them former President George Bush’s son, Jeb, who is running a second time for Florida governor, and U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.).
Ros-Lehtinen recalled that she first met Mas when she was 5 years old and he sought refuge in her parent’s Havana home. He became an adviser when she entered politics as an adult in Miami.
“My parents and him fought alongside while they were in Cuba against Castro’s tyranny,” she said. “My mother got his ticket to help him come to the United states.”
Many of Mas’ mourners were elderly Cubans who have lived in Miami since fleeing Cuba in the early 1960s–among them Juanita Castro, Fidel Castro’s estranged sister who left Cuba in 1965 and lives in Miami.
“It’s very painful,” she said of Mas’ death.
More Top Picks Best Tinted Glasses For Photophobia
The leadership question, however, remains uppermost as the Cuban-American community looks to the future, and observers said it remains unclear whether the son will take over his father’s role as foundation chairman when elections are held next July. While he has been successful in business, his political leadership is untested.
Another prominently mentioned possible successor is Diaz-Balart.
It was Diaz-Balart who pushed for some of the economic sanctions contained in the Helms-Burton Act, which punishes foreign businesses that invest in properties confiscated by the Castro government. It was he who insisted the U.S. embargo policy become law so that no president could change it without approval by Congress.
If Diaz-Balart does step into the power vacuum, he is likely to be aided by his two Cuban-American colleagues in Congress, Reps. Ros-Lehtinen and Roberto Menendez (D-N.J.).
But none of the possible successors have the political influence and grass-roots support that Mas commanded. On Monday, most Cuban-Americans were hard-pressed to name a likely new leader.
“I don’t think there’s anybody like him right now,” said Roberto Ramirez, 36, a bus driver from Hialeah, Fla. “He was a dreamer who dreamed about the same things all Cubans do–freedom in Cuba.”
Mas is to be buried Tuesday.