Elian Gonzalez joins Cuba's Young Communists

[rsmith6621]

Source: Associated Press

HAVANA - The Cuban boy at the center of an international custody battle eight years ago has joined Cuba's Young Communist Union.


Communist youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde quotes Elian Gonzalez as saying he will never let down ex-President Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro, who succeeded Fidel earlier this year.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080616/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cuba_elian_gonzalez

---

And the conservatives where pissed that Clinton sent this boy home....

[treestar]

1. Cuba needs that publicity

So does its dictator.

They would pick him out. And he's only 14!

Meanwhile, people still try to come to the U.S. from Cuba. They can claim one who stayed, because his father made him stay, as against hundreds of thousands who tried to escape.

[Spouting Horn]

2. Gee, how cute!

[redstorm20]

6. Cuba

It jumped out at me that you have Jimmy Carter as your Photo yet it "seems" that your position on Cuba is a little off from his. I am not saying that Fidel Castro is a beacon for democratic ideals, but as Carter states, neither was who he overthrew.

"There are some in Cuba who think the simple answer is for the United States to lift the embargo, and there are some in my country who believe the answer is for your president to step down from power and allow free elections. There is no doubt that the question deserves a more comprehensive assessment."

http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimmycartercubaspeech.htm

[Judi Lynn]

8. From whom are all the people in the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Central America, Mexico

"escaping" when they come from as far away as 700 miles by boat, or come overland across mountains, desert, and rivers?

[Mika]

15. "Hundreds of thousands who tried to escape" - got any links to support that absurdity?

The rest of your post reflects your ignorance about the goings-on in Cuba now. Doesn't seem to stop your from your craven commentary.

-

[raystorm7]

3. Why in the hell are we still talking about this kid for?! Leave the kid alone already

[Wilms]

4. Maybe the capitalist shouldn't have wielded such a big gun near such a little kid.

Lifelong effects and all that.

[Crunchy Frog]

10. Maybe that creepy guy shouldn't have been in a closet with him

at 3:00 in the morning, or shared a bed with him, or let him lick him. I wonder what sort of life long effects he'll have from that association.

[Wilms]

22. Wasn't aware.

Thanks for the info.

A link would go well too.

[Crunchy Frog]

27. Here's a couple of links.

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y00/apr00/27e21.htm

http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2000-05-04/news/donato-s-closet/

[Mika]

16. The exiles acting as "security" for the drunken uncle's family were more heavily armed than that.

Also, keep in mind that the Miami family (and the CANF who were running the show) chose Orlando Bosch as the kid's pediatrician in Miami.

-

[Wilms]

23. My sense at the time was that the kid belonged in Cuba.

While I was alarmed to see that photo I posted, I hadn't realized that there were even more layers to the story.

[roguevalley]

21. maybe the rednecks who manipulated him and wouldn't give him

back to his father shouldn't have done that either. he's where he belongs. I hope he is happy and he seems to be.

[DailyGrind51]

5. You should have heard some of the hyperbolic rhetoric

coming from "Christian" talk-radio in Chicago. Elian Gonzalez was being compared to Anne Frank. During that same time, a 12-year-old Hispanic surname boy was shot while sitting on his front porch in a Chicago neighborhood and those same "Christian" radio shows never mentioned his name, nor the sad fact that Elian had a far better chance to grow to adulthood in Havana than in some of Chicago's (or Miami's?) neighborhoods.

[Judi Lynn]

7. His mother, Elisabet Broton, was a communist. Why wouldn't he choose this, too, if he wanted?

It's time to let it go.

[Nye Bevan]

9. Why not indeed?

He probably looked into all of the different parties that are active in the vibrant Cuban political arena, and chose the one most in tune with his beliefs.

(I seem to remember that someone from the Cuban Liberal party used to post on this board).

[David__77]

13. His father is a party member as well.

I believe his conviction is sincere. He'll probably never forget what his relatives in Florida put him through, whether the crazy uncle or the totally bonkers cousin. I wouldn't be surprised if he emerged as an important leader in the future in his home country.

[Judi Lynn]

14. Thanks for the info. I wasn't sure if his dad was or not. His life was hideous,as their fetish!

I've read when standing inside the little house, you could not close off the sound of that babbling crowd raving outside almost around the clock.

It was a look straight into another reality. You have to hand it to them for their display of true maturity when they attempted to trash the entire town when the court ruled against them.






Elián resting peacefully in the
arms of his two Cuban "exile"
friends, Congress people Lincoln
Diaz-Balart, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen.

[Mika]

17. Juan Miguel Gonzalez was elected (and reelected) and is serving in the national assembly in Cuba.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4471099.stm

Elian's father, Juan Miguel, has become a minor public figure, having been elected to Cuba's National Assembly, in 2003.

[marshall]

24. Not much choice, is there?

Either be a party member or be non-affiliated with any party.

[surf]

11. Being forced to join the communist party isnt news worthy

If everyone in America was forced to join the Republican Party, how many people would flee??

[Mika]

18. Only about 15% of Cubans are official communist party members.

Same applies for their parliament (the Cuban National Assembly).

NO ONE is forced.


Been there. Seen it.

-

[Wednesdays]

19. And your proof he was "forced" comes from where?

:shrug:

[Hugabear]

34. Nobody in Cuba is "forced" to join the Communist Party

Got any proof?

[Dreamer Tatum]

36. They're just forced to submit to it, is all nt

[Judi Lynn]

12. He's not a child any longer. Hard to believe he's this old.

Elián Gonzalez.

[Alameda]

20. What a beautiful young man he's become

it will be interesting to watch him grow up. I'm reminded of John John Kennedy...what a gorgeous man he became. I hope Elian is able to reach his full potential.

[The Straight Story]

25. And they left the paradise of cuba why again?

maybe they just wanted to move to another country. Not sure why really - anyone have any idea why anyone would want to leave Cuba??? ;)

[Crunchy Frog]

28. The mother was chasing dick.

[Judi Lynn]

29. Very low quality material, at that::

DEBUNKING ELIAN
by Jeff Elliott

A special 404 section of under-reported news in the American press

~snip~
Crucial to finding an answer is knowing more about a Cuban man named Lazaro Munero. He was Elizabet's boyfriend -- not Elian's "stepfather," as he is identified by groups that want to keep the boy in the U.S. (MSNBC also mistakenly uses this ID).

Most of the available information on Munero comes from two sources only: a feature in the April 23 issue of NY Times Sunday Magazine, and an 11,000 word report in Granma, the official newspaper of Cuba's Communist Party. While the Cuban newspaper might be expected to stink of bias, the Times story also is suspect; much is made of the great-uncle's resistance to Castro in the 1960s, but no mention at all is made of their more recent legal woes, as described in the section below. But about Munero, both sources agree: He was a hustler with a reputation for brawling and violence.

Nicknamed "El Loco" apparently for his volatile temper, Elizabet met him at a nightclub four months after her breakup with Elian's father. Munero was 22, six years younger than her. A high school dropout, his work history included stints as an unlicensed taxi driver, a waiter, and sometimes selling beer and pop to tourists on the beach. He had already spent over a year in prison for robbing a tourist, and maybe additional time for chopping off someone's finger. "He was tough, maybe hardheaded (and) a hustler," one of his uncles told Miami New Times. "He was troubled."

Within two months of their meeting, he was living with Elisabet and Elian. Friends and relatives were concerned; he had a child that was still an infant. The girlfriend and mother of that child later described him as a "domineering and violent" drunk to Granma -- although the NY Times says that she described him in "softer, more complex terms" than others. The Cuban paper also says that Elisabet was found with black eyes and a swollen wrist, which she supposedly blamed on a dog.

Less than a year later, Munero fled in a boat to Miami with a couple of pals. Life in the promised land wasn't so great, he found; he spent a few months working at a carwash for 5 bucks an hour. Disillusioned, he headed back to Cuba at the end of 1998 and moved back in with Elisabet -- after another short turn in jail.

While in prison, Munero supposedly changed his mind again and became determined to flee Cuba once more. Elisabet -- who was always described in terms such as "easy-going" -- agreed this time to go with him to Florida. With his father, Munero began soldering together pipes for the 16-foot boat, large enough to carry Munero's parents, his brother, Elisabet and Elian, plus seven friends of Elisabet. Munero charged at least two of them $2,000 each.

When Munero's ship was finally launched again on November 22, behind it were floating three inner tubes salvaged from Russian truck tire inner tubes. Three days later, only two of Elisabet's friends and Elian survived, thanks to luck and those floats. The boat sank around midnight of the same day of its fateful launch. Presumed dead, INS officials said that Munero would be prosecuted for human smuggling and murder if he ever turned up alive.

http://www.albionmonitor.com/0004a/elian.html

[The Straight Story]

30. And fidel was chasing power over others for their own sake

Maybe she was - but has everyone that has left there been doing so?

How many people do we see from the US each year risking their lives to get to cuba?

[Crunchy Frog]

32. And people risk their lives to get here from Mexico too.

[bluesmail]

26. Elian, you make me proud! You've grown up with principles. n/t

[Carnea]

31. Look if the Cubans didn't want to be Communist they wouldn't have voted for it..... NT

[TaffyMoon]

33. Elian looks great

happy and very fourteen!

[wickerwoman]

35. The picture caption pisses me off

"Cuban young militant, Elian Gonzales..." Since when does communist party member = militant especially in a country that has had a communist government since his grandparents' time.