Anniversary of Elian´s Return Celebrated in Cuba

[Say_What]

<clips>

Havana, Jun 28 (Prensa Latina) Five years ago today, Tuesday, little Elián González, the boy who survived a shipwreck and became the center of a legal dispute between his father in Cuba and distant relatives that held him in the United States, returned to Havana.

The happy ending of this drama, the return of the child to his father in Cuba, was headlined in local press, recalling the mobilization of the people of Cuba and world support on his behalf.

Elian´s retention in Miami by distant relatives, helped by anti-Cuban sectors in southern Florida, provoked an outcry and huge demonstrations on the Island that sparked what is today known as the "Battle of Ideas".

The first victory of those ideas, Elian´s return, was the fruit of group effort by all Cubans, international solidarity and the majority of the people in the United States, Granma daily proclaims on its front page.

http://www.plenglish.com/Article.asp?ID=%7B85811105-4970-4B9C-9372-33FABC04B491%7D&language=EN

[Mika]

1. Castro ordered Cubans to care..

.. because, as anyone knows, only a commie dictator would want a child to be returned to his dad and extended family in their homeland after being kidnapped by an insane mob in Miami.
;)

[Brotherjohn]

2. That case began to show how really wacko the far right had become.

Here was a boy whose mother had died, and his father just wanted him back. I'm sure all he wanted was to be with one of his parents. Who is anyone to stand in the way of that?

And just to cater to an idealogical demographic, they condoned kidnapping and holding of a boy against his own father's wishes. "Rule of law" my ass! The law is irrelevant to these people if it interferes with what they think is "right".

Then they showed the picture of his rescue and pretended that Janet Reno had sent jack-booted thugs to terrorize and kidnap the poor boy, when in reality they were rescuing him from having been kidnapped.

In my mind, that was Janet Reno's finest moment. She showed great political courage and simply did the right thing: SHE upheld the "rule of law".

[Say_What]

5. For sure. Even today it's hard to believe that the Gusanos would stoop

so low as to hold a tramatized child hostage in the center of a global media circus and try to prevent him from returning to his father all in the name of *freedom and democracy*. Gave me real insight into what kind of animals the RW wackos in South Florida are. It was not about the boy--it was about their sick 40 year vendetta with Fidel Castro. They are a real sick bunch of f*cks.

After he was returned to his father, a Chicago Tribune'article opened with "Well done, Ms Reno!" and people sent her flowers from around the country. It was a great tribute to a fine individual who showed great courage even though she lives in Dade County.

[bluestateguy]

3. I'm glad he's back with his father

but that late night raid cost Gore the election. If there was no raid, Gore wins enough Cuban votes in Miami to prevail. If it meant having Gore in the White House I would gladly accept Elian being kept apart from his father, for the good of the country and the world.

[Warpy]

4. Gore got robbed. He won Florida, but Jebbie and Harris

and the USSC stepped in to deprive him of the win and of the office he had been elected to.

A handful of votes in Little Havana wouldn't have made any difference. The fix was in.

That kid belonged with his father, both sets of grandparents, and his half brother. He didn't belong with a drunken uncle and his mentally ill daughter. There is nothing that could possibly justify leaving a child in that situation when he had a parent and extended family in Cuba.

[noonwitch]

6. For me, it is about father's rights, not Castro's dictatorship

American law gives the father rights over extended relatives. That's the way it is and the way it should be.

I'm no fan of Castro, but I also don't see him as any worse than China. The best way to end communism in Cuba is to open trade with them. It could be a good economic boom for both our country.

[Say_What]

8. Trade and travel. Please sign the Petition on Cuban Travel Policy

<clips>

For the past 5 years the House of Representatives has voted to end the ban on travel to Cuba. Each year, the bill is changed behind closed doors and the Cuba provision gets taken out. This is partly so that President Bush won't have to make a tough decision about signing or vetoing. As citizens, we're tired of this subversion of democracy.

Below you'll find a petition to U.S. lawmakers on Cuba travel policy. It demands that after they pass the amendments to end the travel ban, the bill must reach the President without changes. We'll be delivering it twice: once before the votes happen in the summer (this is soon, so act now!) and again in the fall, when they usually try to take the amendments out.

The more people we have on the petition at each stage, the more impact the petition will have. So...recruit all your friends, colleagues, and family to sign!

We'll keep you updated through our email listserv about the outcome of the vote.

Thanks for your help,

Mavis Anderson
Philip Schmidt

http://www.lawg.org/tools/petition.htm

and web links at the same site make it easy to contact your MOC

http://www.lawg.org/tools/contacting_congress2.htm

[geek tragedy]

7. Shame on the rightwingers who wanted to separate him from his father.

And shame on Fidel Castro for shamelessly exploiting him like this.

[SOS]

9. How many right-wingers

ever sent the boy so much as a birthday card?
They were so concerned for him at the time....