Happpy new millennium, everybody! And wasn't that an
instructive little episode? All those nutters and even normal citizens
conned by doom-mongers into laying in supplies and weapons.
And didn't the media have a lovely time scaring us all to death about
terrorism? You'll be happy to know that the Border Patrol at Ojinaga was on
full alert. There's more damage done by fear in this world than by evil.
And now for Old Business, as they say in the agenda world. If you want a
perfect example of why people despise politicians, try six Republican
presidential candidates, each of them taking the position that Elian
Gonzalez, the 6-year-old from Cuba, should remain in this country.
Is there something wrong with me, or is this a no-brainer? According to the
boy's relatives in Miami, he is close to his father, who took care of him
during the day. Juan Miguel Gonzalez is an excellent father who works as a
hotel doorman, meaning he has a job in Cuba's dollar economy. Nor is the boy
being sent back to a dreary island prison.
I have news for you: Foreign capital from our closest allies is pouring
into Cuba. The Spanish, the French, the Dutch, the Canadians -- everyone but
us -- like to go to Cuba and lie out on the beautiful beaches in front of
the new hotels. Cuba had 1.65 million tourists last year. Some of them were
Americans, who just start from Mexico. Cuba's economy grew by 6.2 percent in
1999.
Some have claimed the child will get a better education here. Actually,
Cuba has the best educational system and the best health care in Latin
America. Its illiteracy and infant mortality rates are lower than those
found in U.S. inner cities. It'd be interesting to find out how Cuban
schools compare to Miami's public schools.
Look at this kid. His mother is dead. He doesn't need
to go to Disney World. He needs his father. There is
something obscene about the assumption that t-shirts and other material
benefits will make up for the lack of a loving parent. What is wrong with
these people?
What's wrong with the politicians, of course, is they all want the Cuban
vote in Southern Florida. Talk about disgusting pandering.
I know that the Cuban-American community contains a substantial range of
political opinion, but its loudest voice has always been that of revanchist
nutters like the late Jorge Mas Canosa, to whom Fidel Castro is anathema.
These are the splendid advocates of democracy who threaten to kill anyone
who disagrees with them. Castro jails people who disagree with him. What's
the difference?
It is long past high time that this country changed its policy toward Cuba.
You must say this for the Bearded One: He has outlasted Dwight Eisenhower,
John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter,
Ronald Reagan and George Bush, and he will probably outlast Clinton. The guy
has staying power.
But he is 73. Tom Walker, a bilingual Texan who wandered around Havana last
year interviewing people at random, said that most people told him, "It's
time for the Old Man to go." They are still fond of him, but they think the
country needs to move on.
Given the mixed record of former communist countries moving to a capitalist
economy -- Russia being the chief example of how not to do it -- they might
want to start cautiously. There has already been some liberalization of the
economy; small businesses and restaurants are allowed to operate for a
monthly tax in hard currency.
Castro has the same effect on people in our State Department that the full
moon has on wolves: He causes them to howl and foam at the mouth. Ditto our
leftover Cold War spook establishment.
One can't argue that our 40-year-old trade embargo hasn't hurt Cuba. It
certainly has -- the place is threadbare in many ways because of the
embargo. Cuba's economy almost collapsed when the Soviet Union stopped its
$6 billion-a-year subsidy. But it bottomed out in '93 and has improved
steadily ever since.
Now we're the ones being hurt by the embargo. The Europeans, the Latins and
everyone else is pouring in money and grabbing up the prime locations.
Frankly, we're being fools. American corporations are champing at the bit to
get into the Cuban market. The U.S. Chamber has been to visit.
According to a 1999 Reuters poll, 67 percent of Americans, and even a
majority of Miamians, favor removing the embargo. Sen. John Ashcroft of
Missouri has introduced a bill to remove restrictions of sales of food and
medicine to Cuba, which has considerable support.
But Cuban-American political strength, which is particularly potent in
Florida and New Jersey, will be out to stop every effort to break down the
embargo. Hence the disgusting kowtowing by politicians.
Some Miami Cubans claimed that Castro would use Elian to stage a victory
parade through Havana, or some such, whereupon Castro promptly announced he
would do no such thing. The Bearded One has a much better sense of public
relations than we do. Keeping the kid here is wrong and is making us look
like churls the world over. "The U.S.'s relentless vengefulness," said the
Irish Times.
Elian's father, all four grandparents and a great-grandmother all wait for
him in Cuba. Here, he is in the custody of a paternal great-uncle whom he
doesn't know. Hey, Republicans, whatever happened to family values?
Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other columnists and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at
www.creators.com. COPYRIGHT 2000 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.
