by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright December 6, 1999
All Rights Reserved.

urviving yet another harrowing escape from Castro’s island, 5 year old Cuban exile Elian Gonzalez drifted mercifully in a life-preserving inner tube toward the sandy beaches of Fort Lauderdale. But how much freedom can be claimed by the boy’s mother and unlucky ones whose bodies washed ashore in the same vicinity? Romanticizing about courageous collisions with Totalitarian regimes can’t obscure his mother’s incredibly poor judgment to satisfy her own needs for a better life. No matter how you slice it, child endangerment is child endangerment. Bad as the conditions are in Cuba, they’re better than a watery grave. 'Give him liberty or give him death' mentality doesn’t apply to underage minors incapable of making adult decisions. Regardless of how much spin comes from State Department or any anti-Castro group, the fact remains that child endangerment can’t be justified. Making martyrs out of the unlucky ones who drowned doesn’t justify placing innocent children in harm’s way.

       Making the 5 year old Elian Gonzalez a poster child for the anti-Castro cause doesn’t protect his welfare any more than raising him in a better standard of living guarantees any measure of happiness. "So often we hear the numbers of the Cuban tragedy," said Mariela Ferretti, spokeswoman for the anti-Castro group, Cuban American National Foundation. "But here’s an innocent child, with a name, face and a story," said Ferretti, displaying a poster of Elian’s traumatized face carried on a gurney to a local hospital with the caption: ANOTHER VICTIM OF FIDEL CASTRO. Yes, Elian’s face mirrors the shock and horror of his life threatening mishap and the emotional gravity of losing his mother. Was the 5 year old really traumatized by Castro’s Cuba? Can a 5 year old even comprehend ideological differences between Democracy and Communism? Obviously not. Then why the conspicuous attempt to exploit his tragedy to advance the anti-Castro agenda?

       Playing the propaganda game too obviously doesn’t help the cause. "Let’s bear in mind that these people left because of the terrible economic, social, political, legal and security conditions that have left hundreds of thousands of Cuban citizens to seek to flee their homeland," commented State Department spokesman James P. Rubin. But how can a 5 year old child possibly comprehend the tragedy of Castro’s failed experiment in socialism. Few really dispute the failings of communism, but what’s that got to do with denying a father—regardless of his political bent—the right to custody of his son? Disgusted as many people are with Castro’s regime, that can’t obscure basic parental rights. With the custodial parent now deceased, it’s a no brainer where the child’s supposed to go. Raising children with boom boxes and cell phones doesn’t fit the U.N.’s current guidelines for granting political asylum.

       Do ideology and platitudes about 'better' lifestyles trump a parent’s right to be reunited with their child? On this point, the State Department has lost its legs—and its logic. "The boy has decided to stay in the United States," said relatives of Elian Gonzalez following his release from Joe DiMaggio Childrens Hospital. Since when do underage minors choose their lifestyles and custodial parents. "Beside lots of love, he’s going to have a future, a career, all the things he wouldn’t have there [in Cuba]," remarked Marisleysis Gonzalez, a cousin of the boy’s father. Sounds good, doesn’t it? That’s a terrific argument for limiting international adoptions to only American parents. Has anyone cruised the inner cities or examined poverty in bucolic America? Black and white clichés about American lifestyles hardly justify eclipsing parental rights. Can you imagine the reaction had Cuban authorities rescued an American child and refused to return the child to the parents? Castro and communism have nothing to do with this tragedy. You can’t blame Castro for endangering this underage minor.

       Expecting 5 year olds to make major life decisions just isn’t done because everyone—including the government—knows that children don’t have the maturity to exercise adult judgment. What can you say about the State Department now advocating that minors know best—especially when it comes to Fidel Castro. Really. While it makes a sensational news story and good propaganda, there are international standards governing child custody. When the boy’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, makes a plea to the U.N. to have his son returned to his custody, is he out of line? What’s a parent supposed to do? Accept that his ex-wife already determined his son’s fate? The boy survived so he should now live with distant relatives under 'better' living conditions? After coming to his senses, the 31 year old Gonzalez is only asking to have his son returned home.

       When the state intervenes to remove a child from parental custody, it’s because the home environment is hazardous to the child’s health. Abuse, neglect, uninhabitable living conditions and abandonment all qualify to bring this about. Through no fault of his own, Elian’s father certainly lost all his rights because the boy’s mother took risky measures, endangered the child and regrettably lost her own life. Plastering billboards with his forlorned face or disseminating happy photographs of Elian’s 6th birthday party in America doesn’t erase his living parent’s inalienable right to custody. No government agency, system of government, or public official can change this fact. Taking to the airwaves, Castro showed his ire, "It’s hard to contain our nation’s anger." Rambling on, "I can’t remember a single instance of aggression in recent years that seemed so disgusting, cruel, absurd and criminal as this," remarked Castro. Vowing "to move heaven and earth" [whatever that means], Castro’s regained a heroic cause.

       Nearly forty years since the Cuban Missile Crisis, the State Department has a new credibility crisis. Who do you believe now: The State Department or common sense? No spin machine can convince mothers and fathers that parenthood is superseded by politics or international brinkmanship. Why give Fidel Castro—of all people—any propaganda advantage? Thumbing your nose and playing hardball with a 6 year old child doesn’t breed international trust. Playing the wrong side of the issue can have lasting repercussions. With a little boy’s life hanging in the balance, it’s time to put aside the politics, rethink options and do the right thing.

About the Author

John M. Curtis is editor of OnlineColumnist.com. He’s also the director of a West Los Angeles think tank specializing in human behavior, health care and political research and media consultation. He’s a seminar trainer, columnist and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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