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.
I expect to get flamed, but I'll be ignoring the flamers:
Donato, I remember when you were interviewed on the radio well before Elian was a household name outside of Miami. I remember when people called in via an interpreter and they kept mentioning God; then you let loose with your testimony about the presence of the Lord on that boat. It confirmed many things in my spirit about this little boy and what he meant to us collectively as a nation, as well as to Cuba and to the world. I'm not as "optimistic" as many are who are convinced that this was a way of getting a Republican in the White House. I rather believe that just as the Lord prepared you that day for what was to come and the persecution that you faced, He is willing to revive and prepare and guide those who will hearken to His voice. Keep your eyes on Him because He is Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Your sister in Christ, PD
My stance two years ago was that Elian should be with Juan Miguel, no matter where he is. If he wanted to stay here, and Janet Reno wouldn't let him, then to hell with Janet Reno (to hell with her anyway).
The boy belonged with his father.
Did you know that Cuba's infant mortality rate is "low" because they involuntarily abort post term babies, especially if the mother is over 30, put them in plastic bags and allow them to die. I think they then tell the mothers that they were miscarriages. (Remember Elisabet had 7 miscarriages!)
That's just one of the horrors of Cuba. It's funny how the intelligence agencies gather information from people who once lived in a certain country or who receive information from relatives in a certain country, but when Cubans spoke of conditions on the island, many Americans accused them of having an anti-Castro agenda, or wanting their mansions and their servants back. So many Cubans who had to flee for their lives were middle class, lower middle class, blacks, Chinese, Jewish, etc., but the majority of Americans will believe any idiocy that is put out by the left-leaning academia.
Dr. Biscet, the doctor who told the world what he discovered, that Cuba was carrying out infanticide (for one thing, when they raise their infant mortality rate, they get lots of UN money) is in a Cuban prison STILL, getting beaten.
Urgent action needed for pro-life doctor jailed in Cuba
Dr. Biscet thread
Mother and son bludgeoned and drowned by Castro's thugs
No, Registered did that, one of my favorites.
Elian brought many people to Free Republic (including me), helped elect President Bush, introduced many of us to a whole population of courageous, patriotic Cuban-Americans living in our own back yard.
Elian brings us together today in sorrow, and determination...and the memory of the miracle of his survival inspires hope.
This is a story beyond my human comprehension. It took an army of some of the most powerful people in the world to wrench Elian from those who loved him and send him back into bondage in Cuba. We know that there are angels and prayer warriors on Elian's side. I know who I'd pick to eventually win.
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.
Why do the people of Florida detest Cubans so?
Is it because of the boatloads of criminals Castro sent over? Are they the ones responsible for the hatred exibited by so many Floridians?
It makes no sense to me that the Americans born in Cuba and their descendants should be so looked down upon. I have never met more hard-working, charming, and loving people in my life than those who have fled Castro for freedom.
What is with so many people in Florida, and not just Florida but anywhere?
I think resentment of Cuban-Americans' strong identity is the basis of people's anger. Cuban-Americans fly the Cuban flag and are proud to show their heritage and traditions. That creates a sense of "us" and "them." Their unswerving loyalty to the Cuban flag is unnerving for most people. They are indeed very patriotic Americans and hard working people. They are in essence conservatives and God and family oriented, which is a prerequisite for an unbending dislike by the liberal media.
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