>X-Sender: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Unverified) >from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >subject: Fidel- Cuban Ajustment Act. Saint Dot Day on Cuba > � Copyright GRANMA INTERNATIONAL DIGITAL EDITION. La Havana. Cuba > >We will not rest until the Cuban Adjustment Act is repealed > >* Says President Fidel Castro at the close of the 7th Congress of the >Federation of Cuban Women > > BY RAISA PAGES (Granma International staff writer) > >"WE will fight against the odious and criminal Cuban Adjustment Act >and will not rest until it has been repealed. Only then will we be >certain that thousands of innocent children will not be illegally >uprooted from their schools, from their identity, and subjected to >life-threatening risks or even death, said President Fidel Castro at >the final session of the 7th Congress of the Federation of Cuban >Women (FMC) in Havana. > >During a speech which lasted one hour and 10 minutes, given 24 hours >prior to the scheduled hearing in a U.S. federal court to rule on >whether the appeal against the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization >Service (INS) would go ahead, Fidel argued that the Cuban Adjustment >Act is a diabolical mechanism which kills people and provokes >tragedies, such as the one being experienced by a child, hardly six >years old, handed over to the custody of a person lacking even the >minimum of ethical principles necessary for adoption. > >Citing information from Miami, provided to the media by U.S. Border >Patrol spokespersons, the Cuban president affirmed that without the >Cuban Adjustment Act, there would not be the shameful and criminal >trafficking in human beings that uses techniques devised by drug >traffickers, with speedboats equipped with three powerful outboard >motors that no Coast Guard cutter can intercept. > >He protested that not even one of these traffickers had been arrested >in the United States, and explained that only Cuba has adopted >serious measures to combat illegal departures, through stiffer legal >penalties against those who own or build crafts used for people >smuggling, as well as intensifying surveillance and preventative >measures in order to avoid these activities. > >With regard to the case of Eli�n Gonz�lez, Fidel said it must be >acknowledged that the U.S. government is currently making a huge >effort to return him to his father and grandparents, considering that >the Assistant Attorney General Edwin S. Kneedler was designated to >testify at the March 9 hearing on the case, an unusual step in this >kind of appeal. > >This decision, he commented, increases the chances of a relatively >quick solution to the problem, as the mental and even physical health >of the distressed child requires, and he stressed that there is >absolutely no certainty that his return will be achieved with a few >days or a few weeks. > >"But what would Elian's return mean if every day four children leave >and every week 28 could suffer the same fate, or even worse, of the >shipwrecked child who survived the tragedy?" asked the Cuban >president, who believes that what has been done to Elian is >monstrous, more monstrous than the Cuban Adjustment Act. > >He mentioned that at this point, more than 80% of those who leave >Cuba illegally for the Florida coast are not intercepted and reach >their destiny if they don't capsize, and if a tragedy does not take >place. When they are returned, they try again. > >He asked how these incidents can be avoided if, on the one hand, the >United States denies them a visa and, on the other, when they travel >illegally, that country welcomes them with open arms, without ever >asking Cuba about their criminal records, which they never do. > >Because of the Cuban Adjustment Act, there will be no scoundrels or >criminals with prison sentences served or yet to be served, on >probation or on bail, who do not dream of traveling in this way to >the country where there are more possessions to be stolen and more >space for criminal behavior, he remarked. > >Fidel emphasized that this does not mean that all those who attempt >or have attempted to travel illegally are criminals; many of them, he >explained, are ordinary people who have not received visas and have >spent many years waiting for and, faced with rejection, choose a way >which grants them the privileges of the Cuban Adjustment Act. > >"The Revolution will respect as something sacred the right of our >citizens to parental authority, to leave with their children for >other countries, to choose another identity, another education >system, another culture, another flag, but if they attempt to do so >through the use of brute force and if they destroy the innocence, >identity and fate of a Cuban child, which is to our mind the greatest >honor and future a child could have, we are all ready to die for one >single child." JC > > ************* > >The Catholic Church may make Dorothy Day a saint. Poor Dorothy Day! > >This institution which opposes reproductive choice and gay rights, >now is starting the beatification process on someone who always >rejected it and who would surely have rejected any such thing were >she alive. Read this: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- >dyn/articles/A24500-2000Mar16.html > >One part of Dorothy Day's heritage which we should all look back at >was her attitude toward the Cuban Revolution. She supported it. > >Dorothy Day took the Catholic Church's teachings seriously, more so >than its hierarchy ever has. Her support to Cuba came naturally. > >Here's an excerpt from her column ON PILGRIMAGE in 1961: > >We are certainly not Marxist socialists nor do we believe in violent >revolution. Yet we do believe that it is better to revolt, to fight, >as Castro did with his handful of men, he worked in the fields with >the cane workers and thus gained them to his army--than to do >nothing. > >We are on the side of the revolution. We believe there must be new >concepts of property, which is proper to man, and that the new con- >cept is not so new. There is a Christian communism and a Christian >capitalism as Peter Maurin pointed out. We believe in farming com- >munes and cooperatives and will be happy to see how they work out in >Cuba. We are in correspondence with friends in Cuba who will send us >word as to what is happening in religious circles and in the schools. > > We have been invited to visit by a young woman who works in the >National Library in Havana and we hope some time we will be able to >go. We are happy to hear that all the young people who belong to the >sodality of our Lady in the U. S. are praying for Cuba and we too >join in prayer that the pruning of the mystical vine will enable it >to bear much fruit. God Bless the priests and people of Cuba. God >bless Castro and all those who are seeing Christ in the poor. God >bless all those who are seeking the brotherhood of man because in >loving their brothers they love God even though they deny Him. > >source: >http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/reprint.cfm?TextID=246 > >Dorothy Day Library on the Web >http://www.catholicworker.org/dorothyday/) > > > > *********** > >"The Havana Film Festival in New York screens highlights from the >International Havana Film Festival. Thirteen programs comprised of >more >than 40 films including features, documentaries, shorts and animation >will >be screened March 18-26th at Anthology Film Archives, 32 Second >Avenue at >2nd Street. > >Discussions follow with Festival Ivan Giroud and prominent Cuban >filmmakers." > > >http://ignition-nyc.com/havana/ >______________________________________________________ > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >--- >Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ >Imperialism NO! Venceremos! >Information and discussion about Cuba. >Discussion of the path of Ernesto Che Guevara. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >--- >Make history and take part in the first online majority survey. >Voice your opinions on american politics and the next president. >Have your say at >http://click.egroups.com/1/1873/0/_/30563/_/953308603/ > ************* > > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >--- Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ Imperialism NO! >Venceremos! >Information and discussion about Cuba. >Discussion of the path of Ernesto Che Guevara. > >--------------------------------------------------------------------- >--- You have a voice mail message waiting for you at iHello.com: >http://click.egroups.com/1/2377/0/_/30563/_/953309545/ > >-- Easily schedule meetings and events using the group calendar! -- >http://www.egroups.com/cal?listname=cubasi&m=1 > > __________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. 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