A Frightening America © 2000 ABIP

April 30, 2000

by Agustín Blázquez with the collaboration of Jaums Sutton

Saturday, April 22, 2000, 5:15 a.m. will live in infamy in the memory of all decent people who cherish liberty and human rights. It will be remembered as a dark and shameful date in the history of this nation, which is being misled by the corrupt and immoral Clinton Administration and his thugs. Under Clinton, this country has descended to the fascist methods of the totalitarian tyranny of Castro.

What happened on that black Saturday was an outright violation of the human rights of an innocent 6-year-old child and of the loving, dedicated, humble family that has given him love, support and protection since he was placed in their custody by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) last November. It was a violation of their trust and betrayal while they were still negotiating in good faith for a peaceful resolution of the case.

The negotiation’s last-minute roadblocks were not caused by this American family. It was due to Castro’s intolerance, reflected through the moves of his surrogate attorney, Gregory B. Craig, a close friend of Clinton who was following Castro’s orders. A far left-wing Methodist church group and other donors are paying Craig’s $800 per hour fee. For example, the large multinational company Acher Daniels Midland (ADM). Charley Rees’s article in the Orlando Sun Sentinel of April 23 reveals and presents evidence that AMD has extensive interests (exploiting Cuban workers) in Cuba. He exposes that Craig indeed is part of a law firm that has ADM as a client.

In his April 22 celebration of Elián’s violent seizure, Castro related in his speech that Ricardo Alarcón, president of Cuba's National Assembly (under Castro’s control), was involved in the negotiations and was in direct contact with Craig. Castro has been managing the Elián affair since the beginning by his own admission.

If Craig was in direct contact with Alarcón and Alarcón takes his orders directly from Castro, then Craig’s disapproval of the deal that the Miami family and Reno already agreed to, was due to Castro’s intransigence. Juan Miguel and Craig, following Castro’s orders, had been pressuring Clinton and Reno to act. The line of command for the fascist operation could be traced to Castro.

Castro’s violent nature always favored the taking of Elián by force from the family’s house. This is evident by Juan Miguel’s approval of such violent action on ABC’s Nightline on January 13, and his subsequent pressures on the administration for it after he arrived in the U.S. Would a normal American father have asked for such a risky operation placing his own child’s life in peril? Castro doesn’t care much about human lives. Two samples of his crimes are the killing of three American citizens and one resident on February 24, 1996 aboard two unarmed private civilian planes in international waters and the sinking of the tugboat on July 13, 1994, where 41 people died, including 12 children. Children to Castro are expendable props to show his almighty power.

But children are sacred to Americans. That is why what Reno and Clinton did in complicity with Castro was so criminal. And to justify the crime, Reno used two flimsy excuses. Left-wing fascist tyrant Castro himself provided one. Ernesto Betancourt, a former advisor of Castro in 1959, pointed out that the "intelligence reports" claiming that the Cubans were armed and relied upon by Reno were first disseminated by the official Cuban newspaper Granma on April 20. Betancourt says that based on that "intelligence," Reno’s Injustice Department "justified sending an armed squad into the house."

And the other excuse used by Reno was supplied by what George Will called, "a pediatrician with a long record of crackpot leftism" who advised her and the nation that "Elián needed to be quickly ‘rescued’ from ‘psychological abuse’ at the hands of his relatives," all without meeting Elián. This pediatrician’s outrageous conclusion was based on a family videotape of Elián saying that he did not want to return to Cuba. Somehow buried and forgotten (covered-up by the media favoring the Clinton/Castro scheme) was the Good Morning America-20/20 Diane Sawyer interviews with Elián saying pretty much the same thing. Sawyer and her TV shows were chastised by the vociferous left-wing and liberal reactionaries, and pro-Castro groups that are obviously working overtime to mislead the American people in order to give Castro a much needed victory.

These people who did not think much about family values in the past, are now using "parents rights" as their bogus excuse. But a look at the Constitution of Cuba, designed by Castro, clearly shows that parents do not have rights over their own children. They are property of the state and the state is Castro, who already has a plan for poor Elián. That is precisely the crime, cruelty and injustice being committed by the Clinton administration on this innocent little boy. That is why Cuban Americans with decades of firsthand experience living inside Castro’s police state have been more united than ever in the effort to give liberty to Elián. This is why the misunderstood and vilified by the media Cuban Americans find Reno’s, the INS’ and Clinton’s actions to favor and placate Castro so reprehensible.

According to attorney Alberto Luzárraga in New York, contrary to what attorney Craig is saying, Juan Miguel cannot speak freely about the best interests of his son. If he were to do so, he would be openly defying Castro’s orders. To keep him under strict control and in constant communication with Castro and his handlers, Craig and Clinton isolated him at Andrews Air Force Base and now at a secluded Wye River home, 70 miles away on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Clinton is claiming that Juan Miguel and his family need privacy and is commanding the press to leave them alone, with the hope that with the distance and the blackout of news the publicity dies out. Meanwhile the State Department is issuing visas to Castro’s Cubans who will be doing a number on poor innocent Elián.

The much criticized circus that the Miami relatives were accused of creating around Elián for five months, was in fact created by the ever-present media across the street from their modest home. They were photographing and videotaping Elián every time he ventured out to play. But at least those were candid and spontaneous shots that show him freely interacting with other kids and loving family members.

Now, Clinton’s spinmeisters want us to believe in the staged photographs that Castro’s attorney, handler Rev. Joan Brown Campbell of the National Council of Churches (called "farcical" and "despicable" by columnist George Will) and Clinton’s friend, the "official photographer" David Burnett, are releasing. The so-called "Truman Show" in Miami certainly was more realistic than Castro’s freak show. Why doesn’t the Clinton administration want to give the press the same freedom they had in front of the house of an American family in Miami? What are they hiding?

Juan Miguel, by following Castro’s orders, is violating the rights of his own son while on American soil. Luzárraga explains that Castro has a reprogramming plan for Elián. And Juan Miguel, as stipulated in the Cuban Constitution, which removes parents’ rights to educate their children, has to accept it. Luzárraga says that what Juan Miguel is commanded to do is just as if "a father imposed upon a son the internment in a ‘cult’ or sect so that he can change his personality." It is an outrage for all decent Americans that the U.S. government is participating in such a monstrosity. The Clinton Administration should be investigated for its complicity in this un-American scheme.

Therefore, since Juan Miguel doesn’t have the freedom to decide what is best for his son, and Craig is obviously not working on his behalf, Elián is in urgent need of an attorney to protect his rights. Elián must have an independent attorney not under the control of Castro, Clinton or the other parties involved in this travesty.

Isn’t it pathetic to realize that Clinton has allowed this country to be manipulated by a foreign tyrant who imposed his violent solution and placed the life of an innocent boy in danger on U.S. soil and at taxpayer expense?

A reliable American source with no connection to the Cuban American community and who wants to remain anonymous said that while Elián was being transported, "he was crying and calling for Marileysis." This person was sickened by the spectacle. However, the spin of the Clinton administration psychiatrist on the plane, Gustavo Cadavid, painted a rosy picture of Elián crying quietly "for about 30 minutes" of the fight until he went to sleep for "about 45 minutes." He claimed that they did not administer tranquilizers. Apparently, as soon as the Lear jet carrying Castro’s precious trophy took off, communication was established with Castro. One hour before the landing at Andrews Air Force Base, state controlled Cuban television was giving details about Elián inside the airplane!

The administration’s spinmeisters emphatically denied the presence of Cuban "diplomats" from the Cuban Interests Section at Andrews, but attorney Craig, in a slip of his tongue, acknowledged that they were present when Elián arrived. Columnist Charles Krauthammer noted that, too. So, who is not telling the truth to the American people?

The violent seizure of Elián González during the night shows a frightening side of what America has become under the Clinton Administration and where we might be heading if this is not corrected on time. We cannot pretend to be a democracy and conduct this type of fascist military operation against an unarmed, humble American family inside their private house and without a legitimate warrant. This patriotic American family’s only crime has been to try to give liberty to a little boy honoring his mother’s dying wish. For that they have been betrayed, abused and treated like criminals by the U.S. government and vilified by the U.S. media. And Clinton’s America is forcing Elián to a life of brainwashing and tyranny.

Clinton has been claiming that he was not involved because he wanted to keep "politics out" when in fact this has been a political hot potato since Castro first interfered in what would have been a private family matter. Apparently, Clinton started making deals and collaborating with Castro’s scheme in order to advance his legacy/goal of normalizing relations with the longest and cruelest tyranny in the Americas. I think history will tell that Clinton’s legacy was one of immorality and corruption. But now, Clinton has a lot of questions to answer for the American people.

This spot is much bigger than the one on Miss Lewinsky’s blue dress. Shame on you Bill Clinton, you have dishonored the Presidency and America many times over!

Agustín Blázquez, Producer/Director of the documentaries COVERING CUBA and CUBA: THE PEARL OF THE ANTILLES