THEY ARE patriotic Americans. I can appreciate that. They are fervent anti-Communists. I can appreciate that. They anxiously await Fidel Castro's fall in Cuba. I could not agree with them more. But I don't know who in the world these people think they are to take Juan González's son away from him.
In the United States of America, we live under the rule of law. It's a fundamental part of our democracy -- we obey our laws, and if we disagree with them there are certain channels available to us to change these laws. This is in stark contrast to Castro's Cuba, where citizens carry out one man's orders and policies, or risk losing their freedom. The interesting development in this tragic story, however, is that many Cuban-Americans, who came to our country in search of freedom, are lowering themselves to the level of the very dictator they despise. If we don't return Elián González to his father -- the only fair and just resolution -- we are no better than El Diablo himself, because we are forsaking due process and family values in exchange for political grandstanding.
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This special treatment applies to Cubans alone. Haitians, Dominicans and others need not apply. In fact, if Elián were Haitian, the INS would have shipped him back to Port-au-Prince faster than you can say "Refugee All-Stars."
Most Cuban-Americans -- or their parents, at least -- came to the United States beginning in 1959 and the years immediately following. Many of them came with money (thus explaining their consistent Republican tilt). Rather than fleeing to America in search of economic opportunity, many Cuban-Americans came here to avoid the economic disaster that Cuba was about to become. They represented pre-Communist Cuba's ruling class. Given his ideology, they had the most to lose in Castro's new society. This helps explain, at least in part, the 40-year blood feud between the Cuban dictator and his Miami-based foes.
One thing is clear in the debate over Elián's future, the lack of any semblance of straight talk on the subject. Liberal apologists for Castro, such as Rep. José Serrano (D-N.Y.), refuse to condemn the dictator's actions. At the same time, right wing Castro foes such as Florida's Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R) will cut off their nose to spite their face, so long as it might hurt the Caribbean despot. For these individuals, this fight is not as much about one little boy as it is about another chance to embarrass Castro.
Without doubt, Cuba is not a pleasant place to live, unless you are a dictator. Yet, its citizens are better off compared to most of its neighbors in the Caribbean. The island, believe it or not, boasts a world-class health care system, as well as universal education up to the university level. Of course, the jobs that Cubans have available to them with these degrees are not very impressive -- that's the downside of communism. If Elián were from a country where his safety was truly at risk -- North Korea, Iraq, even China -- then it might make sense to keep him here. But just because he is from a country with a backward economic system does not give us the right to decide who should raise him.
Elián's great-uncle Lázaro illustrates the hypocrisy of the fanatics in the anti-Castro movement. He fled Cuba in 1984 to live in a country where the government protects the people from tyranny through the rule of law. Yet when the Justice Dept. asked him to return Elián to them, he simply replied "I won't cooperate." ("Caught in a trap?" Time, April 10).
Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas increased the tension when he vowed not to help enforce any order to return Elián and said he would hold President Clinton and Attorney General Janet Reno "responsible for anything that may occur." Clearly, when they disagree with what the rule of law has to say, many Cuban-Americans like to pretend they live in the Republic of South Florida, not the United States of America.
No matter what the outcome of this case, Elián González will have suffered severe trauma as a result of his ordeal. Both sides are guilty. If Juan Miguel González and his family should decide to defect and live in freedom with Elián, I will be delighted. But since that is unlikely to happen, the U.S. must seek the best alternative. America does not approve of Castro's erroneous economic system, but that cannot preclude this boy from being with the only parent he has left -- his father.
(Timothy DuBoff's column appears Fridays in The Cavalier Daily.)
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