Posted on 04/18/2002 11:12:59 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Contrary to recent media accounts, an internal U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service memo indicating the father of Elian Gonzalez was coerced by the Cuban government was made public two years ago but ignored by the press.
The Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post published reports last week on hearings held in the case of an INS agent who accuses the agency of harboring an anti-Cuban bias, especially in its handling of the Elian Gonzalez asylum case.
The reports indicated a memo authored by INS attorney Rebeca Sanchez-Roig was made public April 9.
The document, however, was obtained by the Washington, D.C.-based legal watchdog group Judicial Watch and posted on its website in the spring of 2000. The public interest law firm also drew up a press release concerning the memo.
The only new information to surface April 9 was a handwritten note by Sanchez-Roig at the bottom of her memo referring to an order by then-INS Commissioner Doris Meissner to destroy or delete all copies of it. But the information contained in that note also was known outside of the INS office a full two years ago.
The memo, a summary of an INS teleconference on the matter, was produced at a hearing for special agent Rick Ramirez, whose corruption and discrimination case before the Merit System Protection Board in Miami was brought by Judicial Watch.
The memo indicated that the U.S. government had reason to believe Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, was being coerced, monitored and coached by Cuban government operatives in his statements. It also said that the father had applied for asylum.
The memo specified that Elian's father had made his "own attempts to depart Cuba," and had made two phone calls "from a pay phone in Cuba" to let his family in Miami know that Elian was coming. In addition, "the Cuban government installed what somebody described as a speaker phone" in the father's home in Cuba so that Cuban government agents could coach him on what to say.
'We were kicked in the face'
Why did the major media ignore much of the critical available information? A prominent Cuban-American editor in Miami, who declined to be named, explained that the press and the public "didn't want to hear" it.
"Cuban-Americans are not politically correct," he said.
The editor added that had the memo been covered well at the time it was made public, "more people would have voted against Al Gore."
The editor called it a "very sorry and dirty affair, a terrible thing. Nobody believed us."
The Cuban-American community was talking about all of the things covered in this memo, he said.
"We were kicked in the face," the editor said. "The major media and the Clinton administration presented it as though we deserved [the outcome]."
Chris Farrell of Judicial Watch believes the core issues largely were ignored because the events surrounding Elian were chaotic and "all a blur."
"People went for the easy, quick no-brainer story, as opposed to addressing the deeper issues of policy decision-making and analysis," he said.
Farrell recalls there was no shortage of stories covering the "emotionalism" of "people waving their arms in front of the home," but the most important issues largely were ignored.
"It's very unfortunate," Farrell said. "Media should have been paying attention to this, they should have looked at it, evaluated it, weighed it. It would have had an impact on Elian staying in the United States. People would have demanded a hearing as to whether or not the father was being coerced."
Another member of the Miami Cuban-American community believes that Cubans are sometimes caricatured as being overly emotional and overreacting to political issues.
"There's some truth to that," he said. "We don't always pick our battles well. As a result, sometimes when we cry wolf nobody listens."
But he insisted that the evidence indicates that the Clinton administration hid key information, and he wonders if Fidel Castro didn't "have something" on Clinton, causing the former president to allow Castro to call the shots.
Judicial Watch chairman and general counsel Larry Klayman believes Castro may have had some knowledge of a Clinton/Gore-China connection that would have proved embarrassing were it revealed.
Klayman has blasted Attorney General John Ashcroft for ongoing and repeated failure to respond to allegations of obstruction of justice and anti-Latino racism at the Miami INS office.
The editor called it a "very sorry and dirty affair, a terrible thing. Nobody believed us." The Cuban-American community was talking about all of the things covered in this memo, he said.
Bump.
On day 3 after news of Elian's arrival in the US, I called the CANF and related that very same sentiment.
Unfortunately, either it wasn't possible to control what flag people took to the streets with, or the CANF decided against telling the people to fly a majority of American flags.The only blame to be handed out however, is to the Klinton Administration and it's leftist com-symp cast of misfits, rejects and perverts.
"He is better off with his father. And the United States is better off by not keeping other people's kids against their will."--#2 Posted on 04/18/2001 17:47:51 PDT by Raymond Hendrix
"I think I'll come take your kid. You don't treat him right. In fact, it looks like you are enslaving him. I want him to be free.So, I'll just come get him.
I'm sure you'll agree with all those Child Protective Service Decisions that take kids away from parents because some social worker decides the kid shouldn't be with his parent.
Unless there is obvious abuse (which there was not, with Juan Gonzales), a child should be with his parents. Period.
--#21 Posted on 04/18/2001 20:14:14 PDT sinkspur
Raymond, Sinky? What say you now?
What's the popular mindset??? Oh....it's over and done with, nothing to see, time to move on.
BTW....there were quite a FEW freepers who were anti-freedom/Elian.
Not much consolation in hindsight to find out one's been right all along, eh?
I believe the terrorist attacks on 9/11 were a direct result of Clinton's criminal apathy and neglect of his duty to defend our nation. There is not enough bandwidth to go over every crime and offense against the people of America committed by Bill Clinton and his thugs.
Bill Clinton and Janet Reno stand with blood on their hands for the loss of this little boy and his soul. These people had the chance to rescue this child from a life of slavery and deliberately, either to satisfy their own twisted ideological beliefs or because Castro had something on Clinton or both, coldly handed him back to one of the most venal dictators on the face of the earth.
Yes, we got rid of this criminal enterprise 18 months ago, but the damage they've done will be with us forever. It's really hard for me not to be bitter.
You are right, the Clinton administration has already decided the outcome, but I'm not willing to give up yet on Elian. :o)
Castro didn't care a thing about Elian until he was told he was the "Christ child". He was told that if Elian remained in the USA he would be overthrown. He believed this crap, because he his very superstitious.
I don't believe Clinton was blackmailed to turn Elian over, he was probably more than willing to please Castro since he loves communism and the dictatorial powers that come with it.
Regards, Ivan
Dittoes. Except there was a second day even more poignant, and that was the day the masked storm troopers bashed into the Gonzalez house and took a frightened child by force.
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