Jorge Mas Canosa, a powerful Cuban exile leader whose dedication to freeing his homeland of communism influenced years of U.S. policy toward Cuba, died of complications from lung cancer. He was 58.
Even on his deathbed, Mas urged his supporters to fight for a free Cuba."The last words he told me were . . . `Forward, forward, forward,' " Jorge Mas Jr. said of his father.
Mas lost consciousness Saturday night and died Sunday afternoon.
Dr. Alberto Hernandez, his physician and now interim chairman of the Cuban American National Foundation headed by Mas, said Mas died of cardiac and respiratory failure caused by lung cancer. Mas also suffered from Paget's disease, a hereditary bone affliction.
"Unfortunately he will never set foot in a free Cuba," Mas Jr. said, his eyes welling with tears. "But his spirit and the legacy that he has left us will."
The death of Mas leaves the exile community looking for a new leader and ends a bitter, personal battle to oust Cuban dictator Fidel Castro. Realizing his dream of a free Cuba became his life's work after fleeing the island country in 1960 to avoid arrest for opposing Castro.
Mas, who many said wanted to be president of Cuba, rose to power using hefty political contributions. He modeled his organization after the typical American political action committee and delivered thousands of Cuban exile votes to the Republican Party.
"Jorge has been a very important part of shaping U.S.-Cuba policy for a number of years, formulating and passing important legislation," said Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, R-Fla.
Those achievements include the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which made the U.S. embargo on Cuba law and provided for lawsuits against foreign companies doing business with properties illegally confiscated after the communist revolution.
Mas also pushed for the 1992 Cuban Democracy Act, which tightened the embargo on Cuba. The controversial Radio Marti and TV Marti, which is not seen on the island due to jamming, are also creations of Mas. He served as the chairman of the president's advisory board for the U.S. Information Agency stations that beam uncensored news to Cuba.
"Without Jorge Mas Canosa, none of that legislation would have been enacted into law," Ros-Lehtinen said.
President Clinton, in Vancouver for a summit with Asia-Pacific leaders, praised Mas.
"Jorge was a born leader and organizer whose tenacity, strength of conviction and passion I greatly admired. He galvanized his community, his adopted country and people around the world for the cause of freedom and democracy in Cuba," Clinton said in a statement.
Yet Mas was accused of overreaching and controlling the daily operations of Radio and TV Marti to push his agenda.
His interference in station practices undermined U.S. immigration initiatives related to Cuba, according to an investigation by the U.S. Information Agency.
He was accused of placing cronies on the Radio Marti staff to assure his political viewpoint was represented in broadcasts and of arranging reprisals against staff members who refused his orders. An investigation by the State Department, however, said there was no evidence linking him to reprisals.