September 30, 2005

Five Years Later, Elian Speaks

Elian Gonzalez speaks five years after Janet Reno and Bill Clinton sent him back to Cuba:

ELIAN FIVE YEARS LATER: CASTRO A FRIEND AND 'FATHER'; WANTS TO SEE MIAMI RELATIVES, THOUGH CALLS THEIR ACTIONS 'WRONG'
THU Sep 29 2005 12:31:11 ET

Elian Gonzalez, now a seventh grader in Cuba who calls President Fidel Castro a friend and "father," would see his Miami relatives again, despite saying their treatment of him five years ago was wrong. Gonzalez is interviewed by Bob Simon for a 60 MINUTES report to be broadcast Sunday, Oct. 2 (7:00-8:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.

Gonzalez, 11, is a hero in Cuba after what happened to him when he was just 6 years old: His mother died at sea and he was rescued two miles off Florida, after which he was repatriated following a months-long tug of war between Gonzalez' Miami relatives and his father and the Cuban government. In what Miami Cuban exiles would say is propaganda, Castro attended the boy's elementary school graduation and declared he was proud to have Gonzalez as his friend. The feeling is mutual. "It's also very moving to me and I also believe I am his friend," Gonzalez tells Simon. "Not only [do I think of Castro] as a friend, but also as a father," says Gonzalez. The boy believes that he could call the Cuban president on the phone if he wanted to.

Gonzalez gave a patriotic speech in front of Castro and cameras on the fifth anniversary of the day U.S. law enforcement officers raided his Miami relatives' house and removed him at gunpoint to be repatriated. It's all part of Castro's propagandist plans, says Ramon Sanchez, a Cuban-American who led demonstrations in Miami in support of keeping the boy in America five years ago. "[Gonzalez] is being brainwashed by the Cuban regime. When you see a child talking in the same exact way that the dictator has talked for 46 years, you know he has been indoctrinated," says Sanchez.

The boy says his Miami relatives, with whom he spent five months, tried to persuade him to stay in America. "They were telling me bad things about [my father]... They were also telling me to tell [my father] that I did not want to go back to Cuba and I always told them that I wanted to," he tells Simon. Gonzalez says he missed his father, school and his friends back in Cuba.

The worst parts of his Miami experience were the nights he found difficult to sleep through. "I would have nightmares and my uncles would talk to me about my mother... it was better not to remind me of that because that tormented me... I was very little," he recalls.

One of those great uncles who cared for him during that time, Delfin Gonzalez, denies that Elian was unhappy and says he doesn't believe anything he says in Cuba because the boy is a prisoner there.

Does Elian ever want to see those relatives again? "Yes," he tells Simon. "Despite everything they did, the way they did it, it was wrong, they are [still] my family... my uncles."

60 MINUTES is close-captioned in Spanish; the signal is on the "CC3" menu item.

Developing...

To say I have strong feelings is an understatement. I devoted months covering the story and advocating that Elian be allowed to live free. It was my first obsession with a news story. A special weblog was created just to comment on the latest news. [Yes, it looks awful. No templates and any sense of design. Even though Blogger was just starting to be used I hand coded and FTP'd text files daily.] ElianWatch was my first brush with internet fame. It was linked by Salon back when Salon was cool. I also was interviewed on CNBC, but it aired on a Friday when no one was watching.

Eerily some of the last posts on ElianWatch have a kernel of accuracy. In 2000, I wrote:

Since Elian is Castro's prized possession--his trophy signifying his victory over the U.S. government and the Cuban exile community in the U.S.--Elian will likely be under constant surveilance through electronic means as well as informants and local block committees. If Elian has any inkling of rebelling against the "workers' paradise" he could endure political reeducation.

also I wrote:

Elian's the second-most famous Cuban alive (behind Fidel). Should Elian have the desire and the ability, I can see a popular movement develop around him. He was declared a sacred child by Cuban Santeria religion--a reason Castro fought so hard for his return--so I see the religion declaring Elian the future leader of Cuba. Because of this, Castro will do everything in his power to mold and shape Elian to continue the "Revolution."

Sadly, considering the brutal totalitarian thug Fidel Castro a "friend" and delivering patriotic speeches means Castro was successful in molding the child.