Posted on 11/27/2013 6:49:46 AM PST by afraidfortherepublic
Elian Gonzalez, the object of a 1999-2000 custody squabble involving Washington, Havana and family members on both sides of the Florida Strait, holds a piece of U.S. legislation directly responsible for what he endured then, Cuban official media said Monday.
"They were very sad times for me, which marked me for my whole life. I was never given the chance to have a moment to think about my mother, who as a result of that (U.S.) Cuban Adjustment Act died at sea," the now-19-year-old Gonzalez said last weekend during a Union of Young Communists event.
~snip~
The 1966 Cuban Adjustment Act led in practice to Washington's wet foot, dry foot policy, which gives Cuban migrants who reach U.S. soil the right to remain in the country.
"I suffered the consequences of that law. They also violated my basic rights gathered in the (U.N.) Convention on the Rights of the Child: the right to be together with my father, the right to keep my nationality and to remain in my cultural context," Gonzalez said.
He also acknowledged "the nobility" of the U.S. people, who - although "often they are also the victims of disinformation" - sympathized with his plight.
~snip~
(Excerpt) Read more at latino.foxnews.com ...
I'm not crying over Elian today. I've said that he has publicly come out against this country and should be denied re-entry at any future point.
One more immigrant won't improve things here.
He can work to improve Cuba when Castro dies since for now he is unwilling to publicly work against the man.
If both are lying because of Oppressive Cuba, then frankly to hell with the both of them.
How about you show us the source that said his father had custody.
>>>How about you show us the source that said his father had custody.<<<
http://www.biography.com/people/eli%C3%A1n-gonz%C3%A1lez-9542365
Not sure how reliable this is, but it says he was close to both parents and apparently with the father more.
I am still waiting for any source that claims the father was a deadbeat dad who never saw him.
>>>The mother died doing what was best for him. SHE made the decision.
Papa stayed behind.
If mama had been divorced and remarried, and stepfather adopted the boy, papa wouldn’t get the boy back if mama suddenly kicked the bucket.<<<
But the mother did not remarry. She was shacking up with the boyfriend. Even if they had married it is highly unusual for step fathers to adopt children when the father is alive and has or shares custody.
The boyfriend drowned with the mother, so the whole point is moot anyway.
Elian had one surviving parent, who either had or shared custody. That parent decides where he stays, period.
And where do you stand on his anti-United States/pro-Castroc c*ck comments?
>>?And where do you stand on his anti-United States/pro-Castroc c*ck comments?<<<
I am against them.
That said:
a) I probably wouldn’t expect much different from any average Cuban as that is what they are brought up to believe. Heck, a third of Americans these days are pretty much as Marxist as the average Cuban, and thus we have Barack Hussein Obama as our President.
b) I have no doubt Elian was singled out for extra “training” in Cuban political doctrine and has certainly been given many priviliges to encourage him to be an extra-loyal Cuban Marxist.
In other words, I don’t hold it against him. He went through a terrible trauma as a small child, nearly dying at sea, in a small, leaky boat and watching his Mom and 9 others drown.
Then, following this trauma and loss, rather than being immediately reunited with a comforted by his father, he was used as a pawn in a political game and media circus for months.
Finally, he goes home and because of the media circus is pretty much destined to be a propaganda pawn for the rest of his life. Of course, I’m sure it has its financial and other benefits, but it also made it far less likely that he would ever be able to think outside the Marxist box.
If he had been quietly returned his father promptly, and lived the life a an average Cuban boy, it is hard to say how he would have turned out, but I guess we wouldn’t know anyway as his views would not be news.
And where is your proof that the father ever freely said that he wanted Elian back? Where is this great deal of evidence that you are talking about where the father could actually speak freely? Let’s have it and where and under what circumstances?
This is not just some Washington Times article that you are demeaning. This is an account of actual testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. And very emotional testimony at that.
Nor do you have a very good sense of history if you’ve never heard of the Kindertransport of 1938-1940 in which thousands of Jewish children were sent to England for safety by their parents after Kristallnacht.
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005260
I have offered you evidence. All you’ve given me is your big mouth.
I never forget standing at the White House with the DC Chapter the next morning. Ironman was holding the sign with the picture of the kid in the closet and many asked if we photoshopped the picture.
Oh by the way, how many other deadbeat dads have you defended? Is this some new cause I haven’t been privy to?
Deadbeat Fathers’ Rights. Sure, sign me up.
I tried to ping you to this article, but I mis-spelled your screen name. I keep putting an extra c in it.
I will always defend those FALSELY accused of being deadbeat dads
Show me some evidence that he was a dead beat dad please. Everthing I have seen indicates the opposite.
Is the right of distant relatives to kidnap young children from their loving parents a cause you support?
Again, if you do not believe that parents have the right to raise their children and children do not have a right to be raised by their parents, then you do not believe in any individual human rights as parental rights are among the most basic and sacred ones.
Are you one of those Hilary Clinton, “It takes a village” types?
Let me guess, you have no children of your own do you?
I guess it’s too bad that Elian’s mother died enroute, trying to provide a better future for her son. Had she come ashore with him he’d be a U.S. Citizen today instead of a Party organ. Not sure why you’re happy about that.
I too believe in fathers’ rights. They’re too often ignored. It’s a huge travesty in American justice. I don’t, however, care about Elian’s fathers’ “rights”. Maybe to you that sounds inconsistent. I don’t really care. The decision to send Elian back was wrong. I can say that because I’m a thinking person that can tell right from wrong. Like any juror can decide what is important and what is not important. Justice relies on people, not robots. Elian had “dry feet” by the will of his mother who died to provide that for her son. Good enough for me. I listened to the empassioned pleas from his father still under the thumb of the communist dictator in Cuba. I don’t know if his testimony was forced or not, but the safe money is not bet on his freedom to speak candidly. I do know that his mother put far more on the line than his father did. I know that for sure. I’m making a decision in the view of all the evidence to believe that the mother’s intent wins. I can do that. I’m a thinking person. I get to make decisions like that. That’s what justice is all about.
You keep saying - Everything you have read indicates support for your position - but that doesn’t mean anything to me. You sure haven’t shown anyone here any documentation supporting your opinion.
My god man - think - for once - There must be a reason why this deadbeat dad was no longer with Elian’s mother. And why she would risk death for freedom for her and her son.
The reason I am so passionate about this issue is that I was fortunate enough to come to this country when I was 5 years old. I came alone.
And yes I have a son, and if I had to choose between my selfish love for him or his freedom; I would give him his freedom.
His parents were divorced 2 years before he was born but continued to try tobhave a child and had Elian. If his Dad was such a monster then why would his Mom do that?
You might chose your son’s freedom over him being with you and I would repect that choice, assuming his other parent agreed. It would be a valid choice because it was made by his parents, not by some distant relatives, not by an immigrant community, not by politicians, but by his parents.
Elian’s father made his choice. You can disagree with that choice, but you should respect his right to make the choice.
Elian can enjoy the rest of his life living in the Marxist stinkhole that his mother risked so much to save him from.
The child belongs to himself not the father, who has no means to protect the child’s rights and freedoms. Parents do not own their children, they are custodians only until the child can be independent. Would you leave a child with a passed out drunk or a parent who starves him?
And yes, life in a collectivist country is life as a piece of property.
Least we forget indeed. The raid happened on Good Friday. My brother and I joined FReepers outside the White House the Saturday morning. From that day on my Saturdays were spent at the white House.
Wonder where that brave gunman is today.
I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.
You prefer to look at it from the father’s perspective even if that means the child lives in a Cuban hell hole.
I look at it from the child’s perspective and the chance for a life of freedom.
I’m not saying the father is a monster. I never said that. I just don’t think he earned the right to be called his father other than by DNA. His relatives were just as caring if not more so than this father and had more to offer this boy so close to a whole new life.
I would respect the right of the father to make his choice FREELY. I just haven’t seen evidence for that. I actually feel for the father’s plight since I know he wanted freedom for Elian.
Clinton, Holder, and Janet Reno are the monsters.
I get the impression, since you are so unyielding, that you may possibly have been wronged in a custody matter. If that be the case, I am sorry. I really am. I’m sure you are a good father.
That was awesome!
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