Associated Press

MIAMI -- A rift in the leadership of the powerful Cuban American National Foundation has led to a series of resignations in recent weeks.

At least 18 members of the group's board of directors resigned Tuesday, saying they were angry about not being consulted, particularly on a decision by the group's
leaders to support moving the Latin Grammy Awards to Miami. The group's spokeswoman and at least three others also resigned in the last month.

Some members of Miami's large Cuban community opposed holding the show there because it would involve musicians based in Cuba and might benefit Cuban
leader Fidel Castro.

Last year, civic leaders rejected a request to hold the show in Miami, citing an ordinance barring the county from doing business with those who have dealings with
Cuba. The show was held in Los Angeles instead.

This year, a coalition led by Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas successfully courted the show after the ordinance was invalidated. CANF Chairman Jorge
Mas Santos was part of the coalition.

"The Cuban American National Foundation is a train with a very specific objective, to achieve freedom and democracy for our people," Mas Santos said. "What will
never happen in the foundation is that the opinion of a person or a small group will overtake that of a majority."

Mas Santos's father, the late Jorge Mas Canosa, participated in the failed Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961 and founded the CANF in Miami in 1981 along with other
Cubans who took a hard line against Castro.

Last year, Mas Santos placed young, politically savvy outsiders in leadership positions in response to the divisive tug-of-war over Elian Gonzalez and increased
pressure to end the U.S. economic embargo of Cuba. The Miami relatives of Gonzalez, who is now 7 years old, and anti-Castro Cuban exiles in Miami had fought to
keep the boy in the United States.

The new CANF, which remains opposed to lifting the embargo, has taken a less partisan approach to lobbying in Washington. That change has upset some of the
group's prominent members and is drawing increasing criticism from average Cubans.

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