Santos says Cuban citizens were compelled to participate in the propaganda events. At work or at school, you had to do this, or you paid the price," he explains. Nobody got into a discussion about it. In Cuba, that's the way things work. But seen from America, the assembled masses had the effect Castro desired. Liberals shunned Cuban-Americans rather than the dictatorship they had fled, while the political right shoveled more fuel into the nativist furnace, rendering the once-golden Cuban immigrant just another lump of coal.
Those untethered to Cuba's history saw only a father who sought to be reunited with his son — Juan Miguel calling for his baby. Why couldn't these Cubans just give the kid back? Mostly, it was about self-actualization. After a boom in the s, for example, the U. That's a lot of child-custody battles. Americans knew what those felt like, and they made a correlation to the familiar. On the island, Cubans were still dealing with levels one and two of Maslow's hierarchy of needs — the basics: water, food, warmth, rest.
Those were difficult to find in general. Safety and security, second on the pyramid, were out of the question; Cubans who desired to speak their minds lived — and still live — in fear of being captured, tortured, and silenced. Outwardly, that view seems reasonable. But today, would we send a child who had made it across the ocean from Syria back to that bombed-out shell of a country simply because the kid had a parent there and an uncle here? Not likely.
Thanks to films and photos, we've seen what's happening there. Cuba's reality was — and still is — harder to access. Reno was sure O'Laughlin would remain neutral, but she did not. O'Laughlin believed the grandmothers were not acting out of their own "free will. April 22, , when, on Reno's orders, federal agents forcibly entered the house where the boy was living. The raid was code-named "Operation Reunion.
Diaz, who died in , was freelancing for the Associated Press when he snapped the picture; two months after the raid, the wire service hired him as a staff photographer. The agents wrapped the boy in a blanket and whisked him away. Interests Section in Havana through the annual lottery. The memo also pointed to suspicions that Juan Miguel was being "coerced by the Castro regime.
Juan Miguel told me, in front of his mother and his relatives, that sometime in the future he would come, even if he had to come in a tub. It's the chronicle of a political chess match, populated with the full complement of power brokers and pawns. And Alan Diaz's photo is precisely the image the victorious Castro would have handpicked to capture the endgame.
This past winter, I visited the Stasi Museum in Berlin, which exhibits the notoriously effective and ruthless Cold War-era methods that the Stasi, the East German secret police, used on its people. Secret police archives, now made public, reveal that the Stasi trained the Cuban government — and that in Cuba, the Cold War has survived into the 21st Century. Cubans and Cuban-Americans are still fighting a Cold War against a Stasi-trained dictatorship, and its effects are etched inside all of us, alongside the image of a 6-year-old boy's face paralyzed in horror.
Fortunately, I am allowed to dig up all of this information. Fortunately, I live in a country where we're allowed to open the vaults of history and shed light — to answer questions we might have been unable to answer before, to speak freely, to share points of view that others might not have grasped in the past.
Vanessa Garcia is a Cuban-American native of Miami. A writer and multidisciplinary artist, she is the author of the novel White Light , which won first prize in the International Latino Book Awards. Join the New Times community and help support independent local journalism in Miami.
Get the latest updates in news, food, music and culture, and receive special offers direct to your inbox. Support Us Miami's independent source of local news and culture. But the boy would become a nightmare for others. Support the independent voice of Miami and help keep the future of New Times free. Immigration, who sprayed anyone in their path with pepper spray," Pitts said. By the end of the day, Elian was back with his father under military guard at a U.
Air Force base near Washington. His relatives also flew to Washington to fight for him to stay Miami, but when it was all said and done Elian returned to Cuba with his dad in June of Now 22 years old, he has lived a relatively quiet life and has rarely spoken to the press.
Last year, 15 years after the chaotic raid, he spoke to ABC News about his life as an adult. He revealed that he was engaged, studying to become an engineer, and would like to one day visit the U. She is also a digital producer focusing on culture and social issues. Shut up! He was afraid for his life. We got out into the street. They got him into the van. They close that door and they were gone. The whole raid was done under three minutes.
Tony Zumbado : The backend of my camera was busted so I had to go outside and pick up a spare part for that camera battery mount and start recording the madness going on. It was just chaotic. The pro-Cuban, anti-Castro people who had been there just started throwing rocks. It turned into a riot outside and people crying. Everyone was tear-gassed. Plaintiff was blinded completely and had to be led to safety. Tony Zumbado : The family is freaking out and crying and yelling and hysterical and fainting.
It was a sad scene. United States complaint : At a. Reno also made clear that the raid was a carefully-choreographed, pre-planned event, the details of which she had fully approved.
Back then, it was an election year, too. Jess Swanson and Angel Garcia are Miami-based journalists. Angel is a Cuban American multi-disciplinary artist whose work explores the first-generation immigrant experience. Our mission has never been more vital than it is in this moment: to empower through understanding. Financial contributions from our readers are a critical part of supporting our resource-intensive work and help us keep our journalism free for all.
Please consider making a contribution to Vox today to help us keep our work free for all. Cookie banner We use cookies and other tracking technologies to improve your browsing experience on our site, show personalized content and targeted ads, analyze site traffic, and understand where our audiences come from. By choosing I Accept , you consent to our use of cookies and other tracking technologies.
Reddit Pocket Flipboard Email. Features The age of monsters. Features Can a haunted house even scare us in ? Sign up for the newsletter Sign up for The Weeds Get our essential policy newsletter delivered Fridays.
Thanks for signing up! Check your inbox for a welcome email. Email required.
0コメント