For Elian, a bleak future
By Miguel Pérez
June 30, 2000 – CAST ADRIFT once again, this time by the U.S. Supreme Court, Elian
Gonzalez returned to Cuba Wednesday, sentenced to live a life without a
future.
To some, the seven-month tug-of-war between two countries was just
a custody fight over a boy. To others, it was a battle for the precious
principle of freedom. That's the way history will likely record Elian's
saga. Some will say parents won. Others will say freedom lost.
In the end, it was a tremendous victory for those who put parental
rights over human and individual rights, and those who put the mighty
dollar over the quest for freedom, and those who saw the boy as a ticket
for better relations _ and business _ with a ruthless dictatorship.
America is no longer ruled by justice, or ideology. It hasn't been
for a while. Elian Gonzalez just came to remind us of what we are ruled
by _ dinero.
The 6-year-old shipwreck survivor was only a pawn in a high-stakes
game being played by unscrupulous capitalists and two deceitful and
immoral governments that care little for Elian or any other Cuban child.
After all, this is a time when the value of freedom has been
greatly depreciated, a time when even some Republicans _ pressured by
American farmers who want to sell goods to Cuba _ are putting politics
and the mighty dollar over their formerly held anti-communist
principles.
This is an especially glorious time for those Latinos who idolize
Fidel Castro for being the only Latin American leader who has had the
guts to defy the United States. They don't care how he treats his
people. This, of course, is a distorted mentality, coming from people
who hate this country, admire our enemies, and yet chose to live here as
immigrants. Walking contradictions is what they are.
But nevertheless, they see Elian's return to Castro's hellhole as a
victory for the revolution, a revolution they have the luxury of
supporting from afar, while enjoying all the liberties of America,
without enduring the hardships of Cuba. It was these long-distance
revolutionaries who worked hardest to deny Elian his freedom.
And then there were those Americans who refused to understand that
in Cuba, parents have no rights. It's written in Fidel Castro's version
of the Cuban constitution, but like broken records, they kept repeating,
"The boy should be with his father."
Now that Elian is back in Cuba, let's see.
Oops! Already the Cuban government, not the father, has announced
that the boy will be taken to a special center for "readaptation," which
is the modern-Cuba word for indoctrination _ a good brainwashing. Did
any of the parental-rights advocates stop to think about what control
Juan Miguel Gonzalez will have over what Elian will be taught there? Or
what right he will have to question why the boy is there or when he gets
to take Elian home?
By American standards, if we were bringing the boy back home, we
would be able to decide where we would live, what school our child would
attend. We could even raise hell if we hear that our child is being
shown a book or taught a subject that is inappropriate for the child's
age. American parents do that all the time.
Cuban parents don't have that luxury. They know that for
questioning the Marxist content or the distorted history in his child's
curriculum, a parent could do serious prison time in Cuba. No one even
dares.
By American standards, we feel entitled to the freedom to work as
hard as we can, to guarantee that our children will have milk, food, and
other basic necessities. Cuban parents have to accept the fact that the
government determines their children's basic necessities.
By American standards, we rejoice because our teenagers are no
longer drafted into military service. But Cuban parents lose their
children before their teenage years _ to labor in sugar-cane fields.
By American standards, we would be horrified if we discovered that
our child is being taught to hate. But Cuban parents have no control
over the deep anti-American sentiments that their children are fed in
school.
By American standards, we try to sway our children to pursue
lucrative, exciting, or rewarding careers. But Cuban parents _ and
even their children _ have to leave that decision to the government.
Unfortunately, American standards _ the freedom, rights, benefits,
privileges we so often take for granted _ are not anywhere close to
Cuban reality.
And those who know Cuban reality know that Elian is not going back
to his father, that he will not be treated by psychologists with the
child's best interest in mind, but the best interests of the state. He
has become one of the most valuable possessions of the Castro regime, a
tool with which to disseminate propaganda.
Sure, as a celebrity, he may be spared from the harsh life of most
Cuban children. But on the psychological and spiritual fronts, Elian
will surely have to endure brainwashing and close scrutiny that no child
deserves. The Cuban state security will never take its eyes off him. He
will live in a Cuban glass bubble, available for exhibition whenever the
dictator needs a prop.
Elian is already the poster boy, literally, of the Cuban
Revolution. His face is plastered all over the island. But his coming
out as the model communist child may have to wait. It all depends on how
well they manage to indoctrinate him _ and on whether or not they need
him to stir up anti-American sentiments.
After all, in the end, we failed him. He came to us on Thanksgiving
Day and close to the Fourth of July _ forsaking our principles _ we
turned him over to the forces of evil.
June 30, 2000 – CAST ADRIFT once again, this time by the U.S. Supreme Court, Elian
Gonzalez returned to Cuba Wednesday, sentenced to live a life without a
future.
To some, the seven-month tug-of-war between two countries was just
a custody fight over a boy. To others, it was a battle for the precious
principle of freedom. That's the way history will likely record Elian's
saga. Some will say parents won. Others will say freedom lost.
In the end, it was a tremendous victory for those who put parental
rights over human and individual rights, and those who put the mighty
dollar over the quest for freedom, and those who saw the boy as a ticket
for better relations _ and business _ with a ruthless dictatorship.
America is no longer ruled by justice, or ideology. It hasn't been
for a while. Elian Gonzalez just came to remind us of what we are ruled
by _ dinero.
The 6-year-old shipwreck survivor was only a pawn in a high-stakes
game being played by unscrupulous capitalists and two deceitful and
immoral governments that care little for Elian or any other Cuban child.
After all, this is a time when the value of freedom has been
greatly depreciated, a time when even some Republicans _ pressured by
American farmers who want to sell goods to Cuba _ are putting politics
and the mighty dollar over their formerly held anti-communist
principles.
This is an especially glorious time for those Latinos who idolize
Fidel Castro for being the only Latin American leader who has had the
guts to defy the United States. They don't care how he treats his
people. This, of course, is a distorted mentality, coming from people
who hate this country, admire our enemies, and yet chose to live here as
immigrants. Walking contradictions is what they are.
But nevertheless, they see Elian's return to Castro's hellhole as a
victory for the revolution, a revolution they have the luxury of
supporting from afar, while enjoying all the liberties of America,
without enduring the hardships of Cuba. It was these long-distance
revolutionaries who worked hardest to deny Elian his freedom.
And then there were those Americans who refused to understand that
in Cuba, parents have no rights. It's written in Fidel Castro's version
of the Cuban constitution, but like broken records, they kept repeating,
"The boy should be with his father."
Now that Elian is back in Cuba, let's see.
Oops! Already the Cuban government, not the father, has announced
that the boy will be taken to a special center for "readaptation," which
is the modern-Cuba word for indoctrination _ a good brainwashing. Did
any of the parental-rights advocates stop to think about what control
Juan Miguel Gonzalez will have over what Elian will be taught there? Or
what right he will have to question why the boy is there or when he gets
to take Elian home?
By American standards, if we were bringing the boy back home, we
would be able to decide where we would live, what school our child would
attend. We could even raise hell if we hear that our child is being
shown a book or taught a subject that is inappropriate for the child's
age. American parents do that all the time.
Cuban parents don't have that luxury. They know that for
questioning the Marxist content or the distorted history in his child's
curriculum, a parent could do serious prison time in Cuba. No one even
dares.
By American standards, we feel entitled to the freedom to work as
hard as we can, to guarantee that our children will have milk, food, and
other basic necessities. Cuban parents have to accept the fact that the
government determines their children's basic necessities.
By American standards, we rejoice because our teenagers are no
longer drafted into military service. But Cuban parents lose their
children before their teenage years _ to labor in sugar-cane fields.
By American standards, we would be horrified if we discovered that
our child is being taught to hate. But Cuban parents have no control
over the deep anti-American sentiments that their children are fed in
school.
By American standards, we try to sway our children to pursue
lucrative, exciting, or rewarding careers. But Cuban parents _ and
even their children _ have to leave that decision to the government.
Unfortunately, American standards _ the freedom, rights, benefits,
privileges we so often take for granted _ are not anywhere close to
Cuban reality.
And those who know Cuban reality know that Elian is not going back
to his father, that he will not be treated by psychologists with the
child's best interest in mind, but the best interests of the state. He
has become one of the most valuable possessions of the Castro regime, a
tool with which to disseminate propaganda.
Sure, as a celebrity, he may be spared from the harsh life of most
Cuban children. But on the psychological and spiritual fronts, Elian
will surely have to endure brainwashing and close scrutiny that no child
deserves. The Cuban state security will never take its eyes off him. He
will live in a Cuban glass bubble, available for exhibition whenever the
dictator needs a prop.
Elian is already the poster boy, literally, of the Cuban
Revolution. His face is plastered all over the island. But his coming
out as the model communist child may have to wait. It all depends on how
well they manage to indoctrinate him _ and on whether or not they need
him to stir up anti-American sentiments.
After all, in the end, we failed him. He came to us on Thanksgiving
Day and close to the Fourth of July _ forsaking our principles _ we
turned him over to the forces of evil.
