Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)
The Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) is a nonprofit organization established in 1981 by Cuban American exiles, primarily to advocate for democracy, human rights, and the well-being of the Cuban people. Based in Miami and Washington, DC, CANF engages in cultural activities, supports education and research, and conducts various events, including lectures and conferences. Historically, the organization has been known for its hardline stance against the Cuban government, particularly during the era of Fidel Castro, and it has been influential in shaping U.S. policy toward Cuba. Under the leadership of Jorge Mas Canosa, who was a prominent figure until his death in 1997, CANF was involved in significant political lobbying and received substantial government funding for initiatives like Television Marti, aimed at broadcasting anti-Castro content. Over time, however, perceptions of CANF have evolved, as many Cuban Americans now seek more peaceful approaches to relations with Cuba, indicating a shift away from the organization’s earlier uncompromising stance. Critics argue that CANF has mirrored some of the authoritarian traits it opposes, such as suppression of dissent and political elitism. As the political landscape changes, CANF's role and relevance in U.S.-Cuba relations continue to be subjects of discussion.
On this Page
Cuban American National Foundation (CANF)
Founded in 1918 by Cuban American exiles, the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF) aims to collect and disseminate information relevant to the Cuban people, advocate for Cuban American grassroots projects, and restore and promote global freedom, democracy, and human rights. CANF maintains offices in Miami and Washington, DC, a library, and a speakers’ bureau; supports education and research; publishes a newsletter; and hosts lectures, symposia, and an annual conference.
Although CANF’s stated function is to provide a valuable cultural function on behalf of the Cuban exile community in the United States, this powerful organization is known for adopting a hardline extremist stance against Cuba and the regime of Fidel Castro. Miami multimillionaire Jorge Mas Canosa, who headed the group until his death in November 1997, prided himself on supporting wide-ranging terrorist activity directed at the Castro regime, including assassination attempts, and boasted of dictating foreign policy to the US government, claiming that he frequently edited White House briefings on Cuba. A right-wing Republican, Mas Canosa was a favored client of the administration of Ronald Reagan, which supported his anti-Castro program. Proud of his Central Intelligence Agency ties, the multimillionaire was infamous for his arrogance toward anyone who did not bow to his will, and he engaged in retribution and litigious vendettas against these people and their families. In 1992, he successfully lobbied the Democratic presidential campaign of Bill Clinton, gaining backing for his extremist political program in return for financial and political support.
CANF resulted from an initiative passed by the National Security Council intended to establish an organization that would popularize Reagan’s Latin American policy. CANF has become a nonprofit organization and thus is exempt from taxation. It garners major government grant funding, which it uses to fund its political supporters and programs. In 1987, CANF successfully obtained millions of dollars in governmental support from Congress for Television Marti, an anti-communist television broadcast, although its programs do not reach Cubans in Cuba. It was behind the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992, aimed at restricting trade with Cuba, and successfully blocked the nomination of Cuban American lawyer Mario Baeza as assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs in 1993 because he was not sufficiently critical of Castro. However, most Cuban Americans no longer share CANF’s extreme opposition to the Castro regime and would like to explore peaceful alternatives to the organization’s past uncompromising position. It has been frequently observed that CANF duplicates the least attractive attributes of the Castro regime, which include suppression of free speech, oppression of political dissidents, human rights violations, and political elitism. United States policy toward Cuba, as it has been promulgated by CANF, is increasingly seen as anachronistic. In the late 2000s and early 2010s, the CANF began advocating for increased Cuba-America trade and a reversal of travel and aid restrictions. Though relations between the countries improved for a brief period in the 2010s, the cooperation was short-lived.
Bibliography
Barkan, Elliott Robert. Immigrants in American History: Arrival, Adaptation, and Integration. ABC-CLIO, 2013.
Domínguez, Jorge I., et al. Debating US-Cuban Relations: Shall We Play Ball? Routledge, 2012.
Lohmeier, Christine. Cuban Americans and the Miami Media. McFarland, 2014.
"Purpose." Cuban American National Foundation, www.canf.org/about-us/purpose. Accessed 1 Oct. 2024.
Rytz, Henriette M. Ethnic Interest Groups in US Foreign Policy-Making: A Cuban-American Story of Success and Failure. Palgrave, 2013.
Schoultz, Lars. That Infernal Little Cuban Republic: The United States and the Cuban Revolution. U of North Carolina P, 2009.