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Thursday, February 03, 2000 Page: 12A
Ship Elian Gonzalez back to Cuba. So says U.S. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, radio
talk show host Fred Williams, and U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno.
It’s not easy to argue with all that certainty, and young boys clearly have
much to gain by being with their fathers. But the ease and speed with which
these three appear to have arrived at their conclusions is astonishing. In
fact, one gets the distinct impression that deciding the ultimate fate of
Elian Gonzalez didn’t cost any of them more than a few min utes of
deliberation.
That’s troubling. Decisiveness is a wonderful trait but it ought to take a
back seat to the accumulation of facts every single time. If that means Elian
remains in America until we get those facts, so be it. There’s a natural
tendency to want to punt this “little problem” back to Cuba and end the
impasse. But Elian is not just a problem. He’s a little boy who watched his
mother slip beneath the waves she dreamed would carry them both to freedom.
Thank heavens Elian’s fate is not up to Congressman Kanjorski or Fred
Williams, who appear to arrive at such decisions effortlessly, with little if
any loss of sleep. Let’s pray it’s not up to Janet Reno, who is the marionette
for a president unable to come to any conclusion without conducting a poll.
The fate of Elian Gonzalez should not be decided by columnists, radio talk
show hosts, politicians who crave a photo-op, or those who yearn to put the
whole mess to rest. It should certainly not be made by anyone who thinks
determining the fate of a 6-year-old is an easy task.
Elian’s future should be decided only by those willing to bear the anguish
and heartache such a decision mandates. And it should only be made after
careful consideration of these troubling questions: Why won’t Elian’s father
accept the offer to come to America and retrieve his son, though the trip will
be paid for? Did Juan Gonzalez know that his ex-wife and son planned to
escape, as the boy’s Miami relatives claim? Why did Juan Gonzalez remain
silent about his son’s return, until Fidel Castro took up the cause?
Until we have a much better idea of the answers to those and other
questions, we should resist the urge to pack Elian onto the next plane and
send him back to the police state his mother died trying to escape.
On its face, sending Elian back home is a safe, feel-good opinion. Who
doesn’t want Elian to be with his father? But those who find it easy to decide
the future of a young boy, wrested from the clutches of Castro’s tyrannical
regime, should not be trusted to make the decision.
Elian Gonzalez has suffered enough. He deserves to have his future decided
by those who are willing to bear a little suffering themselves.
Cindy Sanford
Mifflinville