Public school systems of Latin America

[Judi Lynn]

12. As so many people know, some Miami "exiles" go back to Cuba.

That became known by anyone sober who watched tv news when Elian Gonzalez was held prisoner by the gusano community in Miami, and it was reported by national media that his great uncle Lazaro had met Elian twice before, when he was even younger, during two trips he made to Cuba on vacation. He was reported as having spent his days fishing, and his evenings in the hotel bars, and slept in Juan Miguel's own bedroom, while Juan Miguel slept outside in his car, to accommodate his father's brother. Very nice gesture, and Lazaro felt obligated to repay his generosity once, by buying him a goat. That's right, a goat.

So if "exiles" are so terrified of "commie" Cuba, why do they go back there? Aren't they afraid of being flung into prison and beaten until they squeak? A lot of US Americans have wondered about that once they heard about it.

Other Cubans do it, including the couple which survived the ordeal with Elian, which took the lives of the others on board, one of whom was Elian's mother Elisabet's boyfriend, an ex-con from Cuba who had killed a man in a fight, also named "Lazaro." He was unable to get a visa from the US Interests Section in Havana due to his violent record, but had made the crossing multiple times, staying with relatives in Miami, before deciding to go back, get Elisabet, her kid, and some paying customers and heading back to Miami.

From a book written by Anne Louise Bardach, a former journalist with the New York Times, who did a major series of articles on an interview with Luis Posada Carriles, one of the two masterminds of the Cubana airliner mid-air bombing which murdered well over 70 people, including children in a Cuban fencing team;

In Cuba, one used to be either a revolucionario or a contrarevolucionario, while those who decided to leave were gusanos (worms) or escoria (scum). In Miami, the rhetoric has also been harsh. Exiles who do not endorse a confrontational policy with Cuba, seeking instead a negotiated settlement, have often been excoriated as traidores (traitors) and sometimes espías (spies). Cubans, notably cultural stars, who visit Miami but choose to return to their homeland have been routinely denounced. One either defects or is repudiated.

But there has been a slow but steady shift in the last decade-a nod to the clear majority of Cubans en exilio and on the island who crave family reunification. Since 1978, more than one million airline tickets have been sold for flights from Miami to Havana. Faced with the brisk and continuous traffic between Miami and Havana, hard-liners on both sides have opted to deny the new reality. Anomalies such as the phenomenon of reverse balseros, Cubans who, unable to adapt to the pressures and bustle of entrepreneurial Miami, return to the island, or gusañeros, expatriots who send a portion of their earnings home in exchange for unfettered travel back and forth to Cuba (the term is a curious Cuban hybrid of gusano and compañero, or comrade), are unacknowledged by both sides, as are those who live in semi-exilio, returning home to Cuba for long holidays.


Page XVIII
Preface
Cuba Confidential
Love and Vengeance
In Miami and Havana

Copyright© 2002 by
Ann Louise Bardach

https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3023618#3024362

Don't forget Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, who drove a lot of Miami gusanos wild when he decided, on a vacation with his wife and family to Cuba, to NOT return to the United States with them. He was even threatened by the U.S. Government once it was known he was staying there, which was a very conspicuous move by the George W Bush administration.

From an earlier link:

Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo threatened by US for living in Cuba
Posted February 09, 2005

Anthony Boadle | Reuters

A U.S. resident who had spent 22 years in a Cuban prison for opposing communism and returned to the island to work for democracy now faces a U.S. jail threat for violating travel restrictions.

Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo, a Cuban exile who returned in 2003, has been warned by the U.S. Treasury Department that he could be fined $250,000 or sent to prison for 10 years for staying in Cuba in violation of sanctions intended to isolate the government of Fidel Castro.

“They don’t understand: I am not a tourist in Cuba, I am an activist working to establish a legal space for an independent opposition,” Gutierrez Menoyo said on Tuesday in an interview.

“It is illogical. I’m here seeking freedom and the United States comes and tells me I face a 10-year prison sentence,” he complained.

More:
http://havanajournal.com/politics/entry/eloy_gutierrez_menoyo_threatened_by_us_for_living_in_cuba/
https://www.democraticunderground.com/110836176#post6

More on Eloy Gtierrez Menoyo, posted by tremendous, knowledgeable source DU'er, Mika, who has lived and worked in Cuba, made many trips back and forth, has family and friends there still, of course:

Mika Donating Member Sun Dec-03-06 08:14 PM
Response to Reply #49

52. Gutierrez Menoyo now lives in Cuba. After his move back to Cuba, the US won't let him visit the US.
Edited on Sun Dec-03-06 08:34 PM by Mika

According to the new BushCrimeInc dictate Mr. Gutierrez Menoyo has violated the rules regarding his length of stay in Cuba. He has reclaimed his right to live in Cuba as he is a Cuban citizen who never sought asylum in the US. In doing so he now is refused a US visa to visit his family in Miami, or do any speaking engagements in the US.

He has formed a new political party, Cambio Cubano/Cuban Change, (contrary to the ignorant belief that Cuba has only one political party) that works within the current electoral system in Cuba. He has not been persecuted in any way in Cuba. He has been soundly vilified by the hard line exiles in Miami.

and, also extremely informed source, SayWhat,whose source Wayne S. Smith served the U.S. as the Head of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana, Cuba:

54. Wayne Smith Comments on Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo

Yes, Mika. Menoyo is light years beyond the others. I admire him and what he stands for. He is a 'when they made him, they threw the mold away' kind of individual. I've watched him with much interest since Elian and Juan Miguel graced our shores.

<clips>

Just when you think U.S. policy and actions toward Cuba cannot possibly get any dumber, they do. The actions the Treasury Department is threatening to take against Eloy Gutierrez Menoyo are truly mind-boggling. Here he is, a man who fought against Castro, was captured arms in hand and spent 22 years in prison. Released in the late 1980s, he went to Miami and formed an opposition group called Cuban Change (Cambio Cubano), but said all along that he did not want to be an "exile leader;" rather, he wanted to return to Cuba and lead Cambio Cubano from within the island, but as a group that would work within the law and be recognized by the government. In effect, a loyal opposition. Feeling that time was passing him by, a year and a half ago, after a visit to Cuba with his wife and children, he announced that he was not returning to the United States; rather, he would remain in Cuba indefinitely. This was a rather dangerous thing to do, given that he did not have any authorization from the Cuban government, which made it clear that it was unhappy with his decision. But remain he did, and the Cuban government tolerated it. He has not opened a Cambio Cubano office, but, as he puts it, "there's still time."

No one would ever say that Eloy does not have guts. He has demonstrated again that he has plenty, and he has eked out a certain amount of "opposition" space for his efforts.

Now, on the one hand, the U.S.Government says it supports oppositionists in Cuba. But one the other, it is now threatening to impose a huge monetary fine against Eloy and to send him to prison for ten years BECAUSE HE OVERSTAYED AND DID NOT COME BACK IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE NEW REGULATIONS. But if anything, Eloy's case simply points up again how foolish and
counterproductive the new regulations are. "No, sorry, sir," they seem to be saying," you can't stay and try to expand the parameters for legitimate opposition. You must return by the limits set by the new regulations! That's what's really important."

Also, outstanding, and irreplaceable information from Peace Patriot:

All in one thread:
https://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2638333