http://weblogs.sun-sentinel.com/news/columnists/mayo/blog/2008/04/what_was_
gorby_doing_at_hard_r.html

What was Gorby doing at Hard Rock?

> Posted by Michael Mayo at 10:29 AM

It certainly was one of the weirder events on the local calendar lately --
former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev at the Seminoles’ Hard Rock Live
concert hall Wednesday.

A lecture at a university auditorium in Cambridge or Berkeley, I could see.

But a speaking gig with $55-85 tickets at a South Florida casino arena that
usually hosts aging rockers, boxers and comedians?

In order to have a face-saving turnout, the Seminole Tribe apparently gave
away most of the tickets.

So what was the tribe’s motivation in paying an undisclosed fee to the
architect of perestroika and glasnost?

I’m curious to hear your theories. Here’s mine:

The tribe is no longer just a tribe, but a multinational business empire
with interests in gambling and the Hard Rock restaurant/hotel chain.

So it’s probably with an eye on future business opportunities that the
Seminoles are cultivating a relationship with Gorby. And my guess is the
prime target is Cuba.

In a pre-speech news conference chronicled by my colleague David Fleshler,
Gorbachev had kind things to say about the Castro brothers and Cuba’s
communist revolution and unkind things to say about the United States’
hard-line position and ongoing embargoes with the island.

This isn’t what you usually hear from visiting dignitaries in South
Florida. Talk like that around Miami 15 or 20 years ago would have
triggered demonstrations and boycotts.

As change continues to unfold in Cuba, with Raul taking power, it’s logical
that U.S. businesses position themselves for the future. Especially if a
Democrat who’s willing to ease the embargoes is elected president.

Maybe the Seminoles envision the day when Havana once again becomes a
tourist destination with casinos. And maybe Gorbachev can be an envoy who
helps them get an inside track in expanding there.

Again, just a theory.

But how else can you explain Gorby’s spot in the Hard Rock spring lineup
along with Carlos Santana, Eric Clapton and Stevie Nicks?