500,000 women march in Havana
When will Elián and his family get to go
home?
By Gloria La Riva
How long will the charade of U.S. justice continue in
Elián González's case? How much longer will
Elián and his family be held against their will?
When the ruling came down from the 11th Circuit Court in
Atlanta on June 1 affirming the Immigration department's
decision to reject "asylum" for the six-year-old, the hope
was that he and his family could fly back to Cuba before the
day was done.
Instead, Elián was ordered to remain in the U.S.
for at least 21 more days. The court gave the Miami right
wing 14 days to file appeals against the ruling and kept
alive a court injunction to hold Elián. The injunction
that has forced Elián to remain in the U.S. since the
day of his rescue from Miami on April 22 will continue seven
days beyond the appeals deadline.
This new delay is one more in a string of seemingly
endless maneuvers that have kept Elián prisoner in the
so-called "free world" for more than six months.
The people of Cuba--who have carried out extraordinary
mobilizations for Elián--responded to the
González family's continued detention by holding a
mass march and rally the next morning in Havana.
Over 500,000 Cuban women and children marched to the U.S.
Interests Section to demand the family's immediate freedom.
They chanted, "Stop the lies, return Elián!" as they
marched by the U.S. diplomatic presence in Cuba.
A rally followed just yards away. A permanent rally site
called the "José Martí Anti-Imperialist Open
Tribunal" has been set up in front of the U.S. Interests
Section.
So impressive was the women's action that every major
international news service--including the Associated Press,
Reuters and the French Press Agency--commented on its
spectacular character. CNN called the march "unprecedented"
and showed part of it live.
What the court said--
and didn't say
It's important to understand what the 11th Circuit Court
decision said and didn't say. The three-judge panel's
decision was made on a narrow basis. It said the only issue
at hand was the separation of powers of the U.S. government's
branches.
It ruled that the INS--as an agency of the executive
branch--has discretion in deciding how to handle asylum
questions where there is ambiguity in interpreting the law,
in this case, 8 U.S.C., Section 1158(a)(1).
That section of the law was the main basis of the
right-wing argument to keep Elián here: "Any alien ...
may apply for asylum."
However, while the court affirmed Juan Miguel
González's right as a parent to determine his son's
interests, it did little else in his favor.
The judges refused his request to have Lázaro
González removed as "best friend," a court term that
has given the right-wing uncle standing to press his legal
claims. The court thus gave Elián's former kidnappers
the power to continue their psychological abuse and deny the
family's right as Cuban citizens to return home.
An official statement by the Cuban government after the
decision said: "Although it is clear that the majority of
U.S. people and world opinion were hoping for a quick and
just solution, today a ruling was made that still grants
rights and privileges to an imposter who has defied orders of
the authorities and the laws of the country where he lives.
...
"Now, in fact, not only is Elián kidnapped in the
U.S., but his father, stepmother and little brother Hianny as
well. Our people have the right to demand the family's
immediate freedom and return to Cuba. To detain them in the
United States is the consequence of a cruel and unjustifiable
vengeance on the part of the Mafia [Miami right wing] and its
allies.
"But it is also the despicable aim and foolish hope of the
highest government authorities and politicians of that
country to buy a Cuban father, whom they've humiliated and
offended without limit. He, however, has proved himself to be
honest, dignified and incorruptible."
There is nothing left to discuss. Elián, Juan
Miguel, Nercy and Hianny should be home now. But this case
involves Cuba, and even a six-year-old boy is not spared from
being punished for living in a country that has dared to be
independent of the U.S., that dares to defend socialism.
When Elián finally returns to Cuba, it won't be
because of "justice" in U.S. courts. It will be because the
Cuban people, like those on the half-million women's march,
have made a solemn promise to fight for Elián until he
is free, and because millions more in the U.S. and around the
world became disgusted with the right-wing kidnapping of this
small child.
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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