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Via Workers World News Service
Reprinted from the July 20, 2000
issue of Workers World newspaper
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JUAN MUGUEL GONZALEZ HONORED:
HOW CUBAN WORKER RESISTED U.S. BRIBES
Greg Butterfield
On July 5, over 5,000 people packed the Karl Marx Theater
in Havana to pay tribute to a revolutionary worker: Juan
Miguel Gonzalez, parent of Elian Gonzalez.
Before an audience that included millions watching on
television, President Fidel Castro declared, "A small boy
and a humble Cuban father, whom very few people knew just a
few months ago, came back converted into gigantic moral
symbols of our homeland.
"[Gonzalez's] conduct was filled with glory and he gained
for always the admiration of his people."
President Castro presented Gonzalez with the Carlos Manuel
de Cespedes medal, named for an 18th century Cuban
independence fighter. It's one of the socialist nation's
highest civilian honors.
Gonzalez had tears in his eyes as President Castro pinned
the medal on his jacket. He received a standing ovation.
Gonzalez's 6-year-old child, Elian, was kidnapped by the
U.S. government after he was found floating in an inner
tube last November. For a time Elian was held hostage by
right-wing Cuban exiles in Miami.
Gonzalez, a 31-year-old worker from Cardenas, traveled to
the United States with his family to win his son's freedom.
Demonstrations by millions of Cuban youths and workers
regularly demanded Elian's return and supported the
Gonzalez family's fight.
Protests were also organized in the United States by the
Committee to Return Elian Gonzalez to his Father in Cuba.
Polls showed that more than 75 percent of people in the
United States thought Elian should be allowed to go home.
Finally, Washington relented, and on June 28, the U.S.
Supreme Court let Elian and his family fly back to Cuba.
"I owe this to all the people of Cuba," Gonzalez said. "I
have not done anything out of this world. I have done what
any father would have."
Solidarity worth more than money
Elian didn't attend the ceremony. The boy is adjusting to
life outside the capitalist media spotlight. He's
surrounded by family, friends and teachers.
But a huge portrait of Elian's smiling face formed the
backdrop for his father's award.
Gonz lez said it was nothing special that he stood firm
and rejected U.S. pressure and bribery.
The anti-communist Miami Cubans offered him $2 million to
stay in the United States with Elian, he said.
Gonzalez called the bribe "offensive."
It might be hard for a worker in the United States to
imagine how it could be "nothing special" to turn down $2
million--especially when it's being offered by people who
have power over your child's life.
It was, as Gonzalez said, the solidarity of the Cuban
people that made it possible for him to stand firm.
There are hardships in Cuba. Many of them are the results
of the 40-year U.S. blockade, which prevents basic things
like food and medicines from being imported.
Cuba is a poor country. Because of the long history of
colonial underdevelopment while Spain and the United States
ruled there, the country's economy is still largely
agricultural.
Those hardships, along with the exclusive treatment
awarded to Cuban �migr�s by the Cuban Adjustment Act, are
part of a conscious U.S. policy to try and undermine Cuba's
socialist system.
It was this deadly combination that pushed Elian's mother
to risk her son's life and her own by taking a raft to
Florida. She drowned--another victim of U.S. aggression
against Cuba.
But the fact is, most Cuban workers have heroically
resisted the blockade, the bribes and all the Yankee
attempts to destroy the great social revolution that
unfolded beginning on Jan. 1, 1959. The vast majority of
Cubans have rallied to their socialist government.
The revolution has meant homes, food, education and health
care for all. It has brought about the highest literacy
rate in Latin America and the lowest infant mortality rate-
-lower even than many U.S. cities.
It has created a society of cooperation and solidarity
where the working class rules.
That's the society Juan Miguel Gonzalez grew up in. It's
the revolution he stood upon when he fought for his child.
And it's the socialist future he wants for Elian.
- END -
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