> WW News Service Digest #36
>
> 1) U.S. Role in Kidnapping Cuban Child
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 2) Miami Protest Defies Cuban Right Wing
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 3) Free Leonard Peltier--Now!
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 4) Albany, N.Y.: "Justice for Diallo!"
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> 5) Vieques: P.R. Movement Says "No Deal"
> by [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 21:37:27 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] U.S. Role in Kidnapping Cuban Child
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>WASHINGTON TO BLAME IN KIDNAPPING OF CUBAN CHILD
>
>By Gloria La Riva
>
>The Clinton administration, the Justice Department, and
>specifically the Immigration and Naturalization Service must
>bear responsibility for the abduction of little Eli=A0n
>Gonz=A0lez by the U.S.-based Cuban right-wing, which has now
>entered its third month.
>
>It was the INS that turned the six-year-old shipwreck
>survivor over to distant relatives in Miami in the first
>place. It has continued to grant them temporary custody
>despite requests from his father, Juan Manuel Gonzalez, to
>return Eli=A0n home to Cuba immediately.
>
>It was Attorney General Janet Reno who, defying
>international, Cuban and U.S. law, agreed to allow the Miami
>relatives--themselves dupes of the right-wing--to take their
>case to court before the INS's own ruling to return Eli=A0n
>could take effect.
>
>And now the federal authorities have forced his
>grandmothers to return to Cuba without the boy after their
>heroic trip to the United States in late January to try to
>secure his release.
>
>Five-year-old Eli=A0n was rescued at sea in international
>waters on Nov. 25, 1999. The boat on which he was taken from
>Cuba sank and his mother, along with nine other adults,
>died.
>
>Without hesitation Eli=A0n gave U.S. medical doctors his
>father's address and telephone number in Cuba, but the U.S.
>authorities handed him over to his great-uncle in Miami
>without requiring any proof of his relationship to the boy.
>Within one day of his rescue, the right-wing launched a
>grotesque campaign to exploit the boy's plight for their
>anti-Cuba agenda.
>
>Later, the same U.S. officials would force Eli=A0n's father
>to jump through hoops to prove he was a father intimately
>involved in his upbringing.
>
>MEETING WAS A SET-UP
>
>Clear evidence of a set-up during Eli=A0n's meeting with his
>grandmothers at the house of a Catholic nun shows that the
>U.S. government is playing a duplicitous role that has
>delayed his return home.
>
>The INS went out of its way before the meeting to promise
>the Miami relatives in writing that Eli=A0n would not be
>removed from them. Then in the meeting, when the
>grandmothers handed the boy a phone to speak with his
>father, a Miami cop grabbed it out of his hand. They didn't
>want him "influenced" by his own father.
>
>Two days later, Jean O'Laughlin, the "neutral mediator"
>whose house was chosen by the government for the meeting,
>came out strongly advocating his stay in the U.S.
>
>The most vociferous opponents of Eli=A0n's return to Cuba
>are Miami right-wing thugs like Jose Basulto of Brothers to
>the Rescue and Jorge Mas Santos of the Cuban American
>National Foundation. They could easily be slapped down by
>the biggest power on earth if the U.S. ruling class really
>wanted to do that. For years, however, they have served as a
>convenient cover for Washington to continue its aggressive
>policy against Cuba through the U.S. blockade.
>
>Much has been made over the years of the sway that the
>right-wing is said to hold over Florida politicians, right-
>wing members of Congress and U.S. presidents.
>
>It is certainly true that opportunist politicians like
>Robert Torricelli, Jesse Helms, Dan Burton and Dan Smith
>have jumped on the anti-Cuba bandwagon to further their
>political careers. Some, like Burton, Helms and Torricelli,
>have sponsored monstrous bills against Cuba designed to
>inflict greater hardship on the Cuban people.
>
>But in reality, the Miami fascist movement was a creation
>of the U.S. imperialist rulers. The defeated forces of
>former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista have been nurtured,
>funded and armed to the tune of tens of billions of dollars
>over 40 years for the convenience of the U.S. overall
>strategy of trying to destroy the Cuban revolution. While at
>times their fascist ideology does create problems for the
>U.S. government, they still are backed financially and
>politically by their masters.
>
>In the present case, the overwhelming support by the big
>capitalist media for sending the child home reveals a split
>in the ruling class over how to handle the Cuban right-wing.
>While the masses of people here have genuine sympathy for
>Eli=A0n's plight, the capitalist media reflect something else.
>
>All factions of the imperialist ruling class want to
>destroy socialism in Cuba. But some feel their policy of the
>last 40 years has been a failure. Their critical attitude
>toward their own right-wing Miami tools on this issue
>reflects the need to distance themselves from a political
>current that has no influence in Cuba, as the mass
>demonstrations there have shown.
>
>GAVE RIGHT-WING TIME TO ORGANIZE
>
>When the INS first announced its ruling that Eli=A0n should
>be sent home to his family, Reno announced a deadline of
>Jan. 14 for the Miami captors to return him. Giving them an
>extra nine days was a signal that the federal government
>would be lax in its order. Moreover, it gave the fascist
>right a reprieve and an opportunity to organize. Yet, even
>with all the Spanish-language media of Miami promoting a
>right-wing demonstration on Jan. 6, only 200 people showed
>up.
>
>Two days later, as Clinton agreed that Eli=A0n's father was
>his sole representative, he also urged the right-wing to
>"pursue a legal course." It was an implicit invitation to
>his captors to stall Eli=A0n's release by filing court
>appeals. It was an invitation to consider other means. The
>delay gave the right-wing, both U.S. and Cuban, plenty of
>time to plot against Eli=A0n's return.
>
>When was the last time Reno allowed the courts to override
>her authority? She is the head of the whole U.S. Justice
>Department. She has the power to act immediately to order
>Eli=A0n's return. Legal experts opine that she is not bound by
>any of the scheduled court hearings filed by the right-
>wing's lawyers. Even today she could act on her order that
>the boy be returned to Cuba.
>
>Instead she says that the "family" in Miami must have
>their "day in court."
>
>What is the motivation of the U.S. government? It is 40-
>plus years of extreme hostility, through nine presidential
>administrations of both parties, Democrat and Republican,
>and an abiding desire to destroy a revolution that freed the
>Caribbean island from U.S. imperialist rule.
>
>Since 1959, the U.S. government has carried out sabotage
>and counter-revolutionary warfare that has led to the deaths
>of more than 2,300 Cubans, including hundreds of children
>who were infected with hemorrhagic dengue fever by a CIA
>bacteriological warfare program in the early 1980s.
>
>Why would they not take advantage of a shipwrecked child
>to further their means? And yet, the people of Cuba have
>proven resilient, resolute and determined to mobilize all
>the masses to demand the U.S. free Eli=A0n.
>
>ROLE OF CANF AND RIGHT WING IN MIAMI
>
>The CANF and other fascist groups based in Miami play a
>special and important role as an unofficial arm of the
>repressive state apparatus. Through violence, threats and
>intimidation they have created an atmosphere of fear that
>most directly, but not exclusively, affects the Cuban
>community.
>
>Sentiment for Eli=A0n's return, and for ending the blockade
>and hostility against Cuba, is strong in all Miami
>communities--African American, Haitian, Puerto Rican, Anglo
>and Cuban. But, with a few exceptions, most are afraid to
>speak out, fearing loss of jobs and housing, if not outright
>violence.
>
>The climate of intimidation is not limited to the issue of
>Cuba. All progressive and working class organizing is
>impacted. The notorious Miami cops feel free to declare that
>even handing out flyers downtown is illegal.
>
>As an instrument of repression against all working-class
>organizing, the Cuban fascists render a most valuable
>service to the ruling class, a service for which they are
>repaid with political support.
>
>There should be no doubt among U.S. progressive activists
>that the struggle to free Eli=A0n Gonzalez is of paramount
>importance. Every effort to mobilize broad forces for his
>immediate return to his father in Cuba can and should be
>undertaken. Millions of people in Cuba have marched day
>after day. Overwhelming sentiment in the U.S. is solidly on
>Eli=A0n's side.
>
>The conditions are unquestionably favorable to bring
>together thousands of people across the U.S. to demand that
>the U.S. government put an immediate halt to the cruel,
>barbaric kidnapping of a little six-year-old boy, whose only
>crime is that he was born in Cuba.
>
> - END -
>
>(Copyleft Workers World Service. Everyone is permitted to
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>
>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
>Date: Wed, 2 Feb 2000 22:24:27 -0500
>Content-type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
>Content-transfer-encoding: Quoted-printable
>Subject: [WW] Miami Protest Defies Cuban Right Wing
>Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>-------------------------
>Via Workers World News Service
>Reprinted from the Feb. 10, 2000
>issue of Workers World newspaper
>-------------------------
>
>"SEND ELIAN HOME": MIAMI PROTEST DEFIES CUBAN RIGHT
>WING
>
>Special to Workers World
>Miami, Fla.
>
>For two months Miami--where right-wing Cubans with the
>complicity of the Clinton administration are holding 6-year-
>old Eli=A0n Gonz=A0lez hostage--has been at the center of media
>attention.
>
>Despite the reactionary climate that dominates the city,
>organizers in Miami and around the country agreed it was
>time to take the struggle to free Eli=A0n to the scene of the
>crime.
>
>So members of the National Committee to Demand the Return
>of Eli=A0n to His Father in Cuba came to Miami for a national
>protest on Jan. 29. They found many local people eager for
>the chance to show their disgust at the kidnapping of this
>child.
>
>In a historic first, some 300 protesters picketed in front
>of the INS building, in the heart of the Haitian community.
>
>The committee, composed of many individuals and
>organizations throughout the country, includes many Cuban
>Americans. Pastors for Peace, the International Action
>Center/Peace for Cuba Appeal, Casa de las Americas and the
>Antonio Maceo Brigade spearhead it.
>
>The committee's call for protests triggered actions in 15
>U.S. cities including Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Los
>Angeles, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Cleveland, San Diego and
>New Paltz, N.Y. Demonstrations have also been held in Europe
>and Canada.
>
>In all, thousands took to the streets on Jan. 29 to demand
>that the U.S. government immediately return Eli=A0n Gonz=A0lez
>to his father in Cuba. This demand is not only just but
>represents the overwhelming sentiment of the people in this
>country.
>
>The Miami protest was seen by friend and foe as the most
>significant. People came to Miami from as far away as
>Seattle, San Diego, New York, Washington and Chicago. Other
>parts of Florida were also represented.
>
>It was also important because right-wing Cuban
>organizations have a powerful hold over the city. They have
>a rabid hatred of the Cuban Revolution and President Fidel
>Castro. Many are filthy rich and have political connections.
>All this makes them a powerful force indeed.
>
>Miami has been seen as their town, a hotbed of venomous
>anti-Cuba hatred.
>
>Throughout this crisis, it has become quite clear to the
>vast majority of people in this country that Eli=A0n's
>caretakers are more driven by their hatred of Cuba than by
>concern for the 6-year-old.
>
>This is the first time in the 40-year history of relations
>between the Cuban Revolution and the United States that the
>exile Cuban community has been so discredited.
>
>But it took the national demonstration to break the
>silence in Miami--so that a strong "Send Eli=A0n Home" message
>could be heard over the propaganda of the right.
>
>Andres Gomez, a leader of the Antonio Maceo Brigade in
>Miami and one of the local organizers of the event, told
>Workers World, "This demonstration came at a time when the
>Miami press had been silent in a self-imposed censorship."
>
>Speaking of the most notorious of the right-wing groups,
>Gomez said: "This censorship favored the Cuban American
>National Foundation. In order to break this silence, it was
>necessary for supporters to come in from around the country.
>
>"This brought the attention of national media. It was a
>tremendous success."
>
>Gomez pointed out that the right-wing Cuban Americans in
>Miami have been unable to mobilize more than 300 people at
>any action. Despite the fact that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
>called for the largest Cuban American demonstration ever two
>weeks ago, only 300 came out. In the past they have been
>able to pull out thousands.
>
>Gomez continued, "This is an example of CANF's isolation
>on this issue."
>
>OVERCOMING FEAR OF RIGHT
>
>Many Miami residents told the organizers that they support
>Eli=A0n going home, but are afraid to say so. This message was
>repeated everywhere that volunteers passed out leaflets,
>copied fliers for the event, or ate their meals.
>
>The Miamians are afraid not only of physical attack from
>the right wing but of economic retaliation as well. People
>feared they could lose their jobs if they spoke out.
>
>Two Cuban women, business owners, said they desperately
>wanted to come but were afraid. They finally arranged to
>meet organizers in the morning so they wouldn't have to come
>to the rally alone or in their car.
>
>This repression is not just against Cubans. Activists in
>the Haitian and African American community said the same
>thing.
>
>Organizers wondered the day before the protest if people
>from Miami would come out. Would the media publicize the
>coalition's news conference announcing the rally?
>
>But after the 6 p.m. news, the phones began to ring off
>the wall--calls especially from Cubans jubilant that the
>demonstration had indeed been announced on the news.
>
>Pastors for Peace leader the Rev. Lucius Walker, a main
>organizer of the demonstration as well as of the national
>committee, had answered the media bias at the news
>conference after one journalist asked in a combative tone
>why Eli=A0n's father "had not bothered to come to the U.S. to
>pick up his child."
>
>Walker answered passionately, "What more does this man
>have to do to prove that he wants his son back?"
>
>Majority sentiment in the United States supports returning
>Eli=A0n to his family in Cuba. That's why fear did not stop
>Floridians from demonstrating in Miami, even after CANF head
>Jorge Mas Santos attacked the organizers as provocateurs
>right after the news conference.
>
>Gloria La Riva of the International Peace for Cuba Appeal
>had said that organizers came to Miami because this is where
>the child was kidnapped. Mas Canosa characterized this as
>inflammatory and provocative.
>
>CUBANS, HAITIANS AND WHITES
>
>As the sun shone bright on Jan. 29, a Saturday, it was
>clear the threats would not keep Miami residents from
>attending the rally.
>
>People were exuberant. Cubans, Haitians, whites, Latinos
>were all there to demand that Eli=A0n be sent home.
>
>Two Latinos told organizers they had thought at first it
>was a rally to keep Eli=A0n in Miami. They said they were so
>sick of this charade that they were ready to stop and take
>on the participants, two against hundreds.
>
>When they discovered it was a "Send Eli=A0n Home" rally,
>they couldn't believe it. They picked up placards and joined
>the picket for two hours.
>
>A highlight came when a plane flew over the demonstration
>with a banner that read "Send Eli=A0n home to Cuba!"
>
>Speakers at the rally criticized President Clinton and
>Attorney General Janet Reno for allowing the case to drag on
>and on. Walker pointed out that Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, at
>whose home Eli=A0n had met with his grandmothers, violated the
>vow of neutrality by saying she wants Eli=A0n to stay in
>Miami.
>
>The committee is already making plans for the next phase
>of the struggle, which will be a mass rally in Washington.
>
>
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