But expecting the worst.
Discovery en Español will be broadcasting a program about the Elian Gonzalez story on April 27th.
I don’t have any expectation that the show will give any historical context (i.e. the Pedro Pan flights in which thousand unaccompanied children were sent into exile by their parents), or portray the exile community sympathetically.
To this day most Americans don’t realize that the custody battle was not between two sides of a family (i.e. the mother’s side and father’s side) but rather that it was Juan Miguel’s (Elian’s father) own relatives that were taking care of him here in Miami.
2 thoughts on “Hoping for the best…”
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You’re right, Henry, I can imagine. It will be more of the same. Expect hefty interviews with the hideous Janet Reno who is already quoted repeating the same old lie she said all along during this ordeal: “the law was clear in this case.” Expect interviews with Gregory Craig [Castro’s lawyer], with Doris Messenger the head of Immigration at the time, with the communist National Council of Churches, etc..
Already, just from the article, one can gage how offensive the program will be, like this excerpt:
““Fidel Castro in the wake of the end of the Cold War was desperate to be relevant again. And in that sense Elian was just as much a political blessing for him as it was for the exiles,” from Tim Padgett Time Magazine Correspondent who helped bring the issue to national prominence.”
How was this a blessing for us? It was a blessing only in that it coalesced the Cuban American Community and as a result we voted Bush into the White House, but it was hardly a blessing, no more than a death in a family is a blessing because it brings a divided family together. Quite frankly, I resent this constant equating of exiles to Castro. Castro orchestrated this from the start, it was very painful to read the constant solidly vicious insults hurled at us in the media, as a Cuban American I felt under siege. Hardly what I would call a blessing.
Finally, the article says:
““The Story of Elian Gonzalez” poignantly captures, unlike no other, an event that divided a family and a nation and became the focal point in the largest conflict between Cuba and the United States since the Cuban Missile crisis.”
Divided a family? By all accounts, Elian’s father was all for Elian staying in the USA, until castro got into the act, what’s more, the nation wasn’t divided. This orchestrated and manipulated charade pitted the entire nation against the exile community. We were really alone on this. We had few allies, so it was hardly a “divided nation.”
Don’t even dream this will be anything besides the same old shit. At best, it will be slightly less overtly biased, but the end result will be the same. The sad thing is that the Discovery Channel people will get financial gain out of this, which is the main reason for making this program. Elian as useful pawn, again.