|
The people of Cuba are indignant by the recent refusal of U.S. authorities to return Elian Gonzalez to Cuba. (Note that the correct spelling has an accented "a" in Elian and an accented "a" in Gonzalez). The facts as understood in Cuba are as follows. Elian traveled with his mother and 13 others on a boat illegally transporting Cubans to the United States. The U.S. Coast Guard intercepted the boat in international waters. The 1994 and 1995 migratory accords between Cuba and the United States require the return to Cuba of Cubans detained in international waters. The accords are part of an ongoing effort by the government of Cuba to establish a situation in which the United States facilitates the legal migration of Cubans to the United States, instead of encouraging Cubans to migrate illegally for purposes of political propaganda. Since the accords allows Cubans who arrive at U.S. shores to remain in the United States, the U.S. Coast Guard often permits boats with Cubans travelling illegally to continue their journey, so that they will have arrived at U.S. shores. This was done in the case of the boat carrying Elian and his mother, in spite of the fact that the boat was experiencing difficulties. The boat sank before arriving on U.S. shores, and 11 people drowned, including Elian’s mother. Elian was rescued at sea and treated in an U.S. hospital. Elian’s father, who was separated from his mother and never gave permission for the journey to the United States, solicited the return of the child to Cuba. In this request, the four grandparents of the child, all of whom live in Cuba, supported Elian’s father. U.S. authorities denied the request, and the father asked for the intervention and support of the Cuban government. The father has been offered bribes, including an offer of $2 million dollars to migrate to the United States, which he has vehemently rejected. The Cuban government supports the father and demands the unconditional and immediate return of the child to Cuba. As awareness of the situation in Cuba grew, demonstrations against the United States began. The first demonstration was organized on December 7 by high school students attending a Latin American student meeting, who marched in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana. A larger demonstration occurred the following day. By December 9, the "free Elian" movement reached such a level that 300,000 Cubans passed by the U.S. Interests Section in protest. On December 10, in addition to marches in front of the U.S: Interests Section in Havana, demonstrations were organized in all the major cities of Cuba. In total an estimated 2,200,000 Cubans in 17 cities participated in the various events of December 10, roughly 20% of the entire Cuban population. Cuban news analysts are describing it as the largest mass mobilization in Cuban history. It is being called the March of the Combatant People, the same name given to the mass demonstrations that occurred in Cuba in 1980 in protest of U.S. and Peruvian policies in regard to Cuban emigration. In spite of the indignation and the fury of the Cuban people, these demonstrations are being conducted in a spirit of exhilaration and joy. They constitute a celebration of Cuban values, the Cuban system, and the Cuban Revolution. They are not being conducted in a spirit of hostility or hate. No one is hurling rocks at the building of the U.S. Interests Section, nor is anyone shouting obscenities toward the people who work in it. I have been told by his neighbors that the director of the U.S. Interests Section is able to come and go from his house and place of work without any kind of harassment or intimidation. The orations are full of vivas: to Cuba, to the Cuban Revolution, to Fidel and to Elian, as well as some abajos (down with) Yankee Imperialism. The participants in these demonstrations are overwhelmingly young people, including children. People from all walks of life and all ages are given an opportunity to speak to the assembled crowds. The capacity of boys and girls aged 9 to 12 to give eloquent discourses, without notes and seemingly without fear, to thousands of people, is most impressive. The assemblies enthusiastically cheer all speakers, especially the children. People enthusiastically wave Cuban flags and pictures of Elian. There are many patriotic and protest songs, and the people clap and sing along with great enthusiasm. Some songs and poetry have been written especially for the occasion. Very few police are in evidence. A few unarmed police have been placed strategically in front of the U.S. Interests Section, seemingly giving a message that no one should launch any kind of physical movement toward the building. (The demonstrations and the building are separated by a parking lot, and the street directly in front of the building has been closed to all auto and pedestrian traffic). In all, an impressive display of order, discipline, solidarity, patriotism, and Cuban values. In the various discourses, at least three themes can be discerned. First, various kinds of national and international accords affirm that priority be given to parents and to the culture in which the child has been nurtured. Cubans consider U.S. conduct in the case to be a violation of international law. Second, Elian is "100% Cuban." He was born and has lived in Cuba since his birth. His family, friends, and school are all Cuban. He belongs in Cuba, and not in the United States. Third, he is better off in Cuba. In the United States, he would find a society with violence in the schools and in the streets, high levels of drug use, children without health care or adequate food, child prostitution, materialism, consumerism, and individualism. Latin immigrants to the United States confront discrimination, and the great majority lack food security. The United States is a country where more than 11 million children are without health insurance, but the government spends more than 228 billion dollars on the military, and the four major presidential aspirants have raised this year 200 million dollars for political advertising and political campaigns. The United States is a country which has much money but which lacks a strong moral foundation. Cuba, on the other hand, provides a much healthier and more moral environment for Elian to live and develop. In the schools in Cuba, children learn the ideals that the nation has struggled to attain for more than 130 years. They learn of the heroes of that struggle, and in the process acquire a sentiment of patriotism as well as a sense of right and wrong. Associated with the schools are youth organizations in which the children can develop their capacities in a variety of areas, including the arts and sport. These organizations facilitate their personal, social and cultural development, as well as leadership skills. In addition, Cuba is a country which provides an excellent moral example to children, educating more doctors per capita than any other nation in the world and sending many of those doctors on international missions of solidarity in support of Third World nations that do not have sufficient doctors. Elian’s country is a country that, in spite of its historic legacy of underdevelopment rooted in Spanish colonial and U.S. neo-colonial domination, has a lower infant mortality rate than the United States. In part, the powerful response of the Cuban people to this affair can be explained by the Cuban attitude toward children. In Cuba, children are given priority, and the child is treated as nearly sacred. The philosophy is that every child has a right to develop his or her capacities to the fullest potential, not just in theory, but in everyday reality. This is why so much effort has been made to educate teachers and to establish youth organizations in each school. This child-centered philosophy is at the heart of the Cuban Revolution. The focus is on the development of human capital: the formation of teachers, doctors, and scientists and, in general, of citizens able to make positive contributions to the further development of the society. This emphasis on human capital explains some things that are peculiar to Cuba, such as surgeons living in housing that most people in the U.S. would consider inadequate. And it also explains how a country with such limited financial resources is able to send medical brigades to other nations and to develop schools for students from other nations, such as the recently developed Latin American School of Medicine. But all of this investment in human capital requires that priority be given to the child, so that children can develop in such a way as to form a part of this national resource as they mature. So when U.S. authorities refused to return a Cuban child in accordance with the request of his father, insinuating that the child would be better of in the United States, that action struck at the heart of Cuba’s commitment to children, and it was an insult to Cuban honor. In this drama, Elian’s school desk has emerged as an important symbol. In the demonstrations, the most frequently seen placard (after "Free Elian") proclaims: "Return Elian to his school desk." And there have been images on television of Elian’s school desk, now empty. That empty desk has become a symbol of U.S. determination to prevent Cubans from moving forward in their construction of a child-centered society that gives priority to human capital, a society that seeks to establish institutions that facilitate the development of children. In this March of the Combatant People, Cubans are proclaiming their sovereign right to educate their children in accordance with their values, their historic reality and their contemporary needs. The outpouring of emotion in Cuba is a moving and powerful thing to see and experience. It is, as several have said, "a collective act of revolutionary reaffirmation," a reaffirmation provoked by the insensitivity of a pretentious global power that arrogantly thinks that any child would be better off in its custody. Cubans are indignant, unified, organized and committed. They demand of the United States that Elian, who has become a symbol of Cuban children, be returned to his family, his country, and his school desk. And they say that they will not stop until he is. Cubans are asking for the support of international opinion in this affair. They are especially calling upon the people of the United States to demand of their government that it return Elian to his country, in accordance with established principles of international law. Charles McKelvey Center for Development Studies Clinton, South Carolina Writing from Havana, Cuba; December 11, 1999 |