Remember Little Elian?
Filed under: Latinolicious > PolitikThis just goes to show you that anyone can be brainwashed.
Just eight years ago, Elian Gonzalez arrived in the United States sailing across on a small raft with his mother and several others.
Unfortunately, his mother passed away before making it to freedom, but the controversy of whether the child would stay in the US or be returned to Cuba became worldwide news.
Little Elian was forcefully taken against his will and that of his family's, and forced to return to Cuba with his estranged father.
Now, at the age of 14, Elian, like every other Cuban school boy, has been forced to join Cuba's Union of Young Communists
And of that, he is excited.
According to the Juventud Rebelde newspaper, Elian is very excited to join and has vowed to never let down Fidel and his brother, Raul.
Elian is now one of 18,000 boys joining the communist group.
He says, "We say to the leader of the Revolution, Fidel Castro, and President Raúl Castro that they can rely on these valiant troops, that we will continue to follow their example and never disappoint them."
He adds, "Although it is an occasion for great joy, we also know that we are taking on a tremendous responsibility and there are great challenges to be faced in every school where we continue our studies, in order to become the educated individuals that our homeland needs."
Poor kid. At least he's well taken care of, unlike the many other Cubans on the island.
Miriam Yanet Martín, president of the José Martí Pioneros Organization, stated Elian "was a six-year-old boy who had been kidnapped by the Miami mafia and his father demanded his return to Cuban soil, the whole population rose up to demand his freedom, from the youngest schoolchild to the most elderly citizen."
Haha, yea right. The Miami Mafia?
We don't know the Miami Mafia, but we know the Miami Sound Machine!
first?
this is sad. DOWN WITH COMMUNISM!
awww…cute little commie.
first!
first (:
Whoa Perez you're a little offbase here my friend. I'm not taking sides one way or the other, and it doesn't MATTER whose side you may be on, because to say he was kidnapped and returned against his will and his "family's" wishes? I remember watching the crazyness playing out. His FAMILY is his father, not that distant band of relatives in Miami who had no legal claim to him regardless.
Aww, this is so sad…….
Yawwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn
This was on Yahoo! like 2 hours ago. You're soooooo late with your shit and stealing from other people. Come up with something original.
JUST LIKE THAT TIME PREZ WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM THE MONKEYS AND BACK TO HIS PARENTS…
NOW THATS SAD
His mother was irresponsible. I would never risk my son's life for my own desires. He has a father that provides for him and obviously loves him a great deal. Shame on his mother and her family.
Elian is just supporting his government like any kid in the United States would also be expected to do. We have soldiers here going into war and we commend them for protecting us. Elian is just showing his patriotism for his own government. We may not like his government but the brainwashing is the same here as it is there.
Hey, Cuba has human rights issues, or course, but so does the USA. At least in Cuba if you get sick they take care of you, here they just look at your bank balance before they'll agree to treat you.
Plus I don't get why the USA refuses to trade with Cuba because its communist but then so happily trades constantly with China which is massively communist? The USA has no morals, only its God, the dollar.
Wow that IS sad. Elian could've gone so far with his life here! Granted, that is his father, but his mother knew Elian would have a better life in America. That's why she risked her own life (and had it taken from her) while coming here.
sad.
Elian is being raised by his loving father. Very few children have a choice in what the politics of their birthplace are and most would choose to stay with their parents. The whole Elian fiasco is a blackeye to our country. He should have been returned to his father instead of being made into a political poster child right off the bat.
Not everyone wants to be like the U.S., everyone's different, many like communism and many other people like anal sex, that is just what makes us all different.
I don't blame him! Think about it - even though the family he was with treated him well, the image that the Cuban government and his family in Cuba probably show him is the one where he hat a huge ass gun in his face. And, because he was so young, the one thing he probably remembers about the US is that image. If that is what I equated with a democratic America, I'd wanna be a commy too.
Yeah, the commie revolution
really did the people of Cuba so much
of good…NOT!
Every country run by Commies
is a hot mess.
Commies like Stalin killed
more people than Hitler.
Rash Manly
I don't really care about what he's doing now as long as he's healthy and happy. but, it was way sad of his dad to hide him in a closet w/him and have a gun pointed to his head!!!!! things could've been handled differently! how tramatic that must have been for him!!!!!!!! i can't imagine! but then again, i've never wanted to live in another country than where i live and if i did, i'd like to think I'd do it legally and learn the language and live by the rules not take advantage of the situation!
this kid is so brainwashed. being cuban and knowing people living there and ones that have come to the US not ONE says anything good about castro and the shit he has put his country through over the last 50 years. this boy should have been left in the US and hopefully one day he will come to realize how horrible it was for him to be sent back to Cuba.
I LOVE U MIAMI!
regardless of the government, children shouldn't be taken away from their parents.
Perez I love you, but take my advice and stay out of politics. It is way out of your league. You are only going to turn off fans that would have previously stayed loyal to your site for good. The only brainwashing that has gone on here is the United States brainwashing it's citizens to think communism is bad. Maybe Cuba isn't perfect right now, but neither is the United States.
Re: misti – That wasn't his dad in the closet. That was the guy that claimed to have rescued him from the ocean.
Thanks for Making Me laugh! "Miami Mafia, but we know the Miami Sound Machine!"
Don't you mean he enetered the country ILLEGALLY and was deported as such several years ago. I'm glad he is enjoying Cuba, he shouldn't have left to begin with. All illegal immigrants need to be shipped back to their country of origin.
godforbid some one else other then an american be proud of their country.
how dare you cuba!
Re: blue – Amen! Plus those white cubans in Miami are some of the most racist assholes alive. They fled Cuba in droves because Fidel made it a priority to better the lives of the poor black Cubans in his country.
americans dont know half the shit that goes on in cuba bc it isnt reported here. go talk to a cuban and hear a first hand account of how things are there. i tell friends stories that my family has told me and they can not believe that people live that way. Fidel has destroyed a beautiful country. yes he gives them free healthcare and education but at the expense of the people making $20 a MONTH.
This is a tuff one. Fidel castro has well meaning but carries it out in the wrong way. That child was innocent regardless, he shouldve been afforded a lawyer to act in his interest not US relatives or an absent father. Just think, if there was no Fidel, Cuba would be as used up, stripped, isolated, and disrespected as their sister Puerto Rico!!!!
re: CD. he left cuba illegally, but once any cuban reaches american soil they are political refugees and are allowed to stay in this country and will NOT be deported.
Come on you nut…."Little Elian was forcefully taken against his will and that of his family's, and forced to return to Cuba with his estranged father."
This statement makes no sense: His father IS his family, you idjit. Also, 8 year old boys don't get to just pick where they live, even in the good old US of A. So what if his cousins wanted him to stay in Miami, kids belong with their birth parents as long as they want the responsibility and are mentally stable, even if it is in Cuba. But the relentless kneejerk Cuba-bashing (maybe little Mario is the one who got the brainwashing) just seems so perspectiveless from a normally insightful journalist. Castro is dead and there will be W Hotels and Sonic franchises lining the streets of Havana soon enough, then what will you have to bitch about?
…and this is celebrity gossip, juicy rumors, or Hollywood gossip how?
Once again Perez not having shit to report about has to try dipping his 1 inch dick into something he knows nothing about.
"Little Elian was forcefully taken against his will and that of his family's, and forced to return to Cuba with his estranged father."
Really? His Family. He didn't even know those people in Miami. His father was his only family left. And calling him estranged is just propoganda. Your no better than Fidel. His father was estranged from his mother, not from him. His mother kidnapped him. Thank god he was "forcefully" sent back. I'd hate to think that just because you don't like another country, you can kidnap their children with no regards to the parent(s) left behind.
Any you stupid fucks, quit talking about 20 bucks a month. That is only relevant if the countries economy is referenced. They are not americans with the american economy. No, we could not live on 20 bucks a month here, but in Cuba, they apparently can, or they would all be dead. Get a clue.
Good to know that the Cuban state didn't just use him for propoganda. Oh wait, yeah..
First of all, the police had all right to search for the kid and send him back to his dad in Cuba! The Cubans were the ones who escalated everything and caused a ruccus. If it was a Haitian child he probably would have been shot on sight instead of have a gun pointed in his face. Miami's justice has always been two faced when it comes to Haitians and Cubans…..it's sickening!!!!
Not everyone believes in the US ideal of 'democracy'. Leave the kid alone, and stick your nose only where it belongs. Believe it or not, some people would rather have communism that the racisit, materialistic American dream.
Who cares? If that's what he wants, screw him and all cubans! =]
Hopefully, there will be a government uprising from the tired suppressed citizens and if little Elian gets assassinated, so be it… he made his bed, right?
please perez he needed to be with his father and he seems to be happy leave him alone alot of cubans that live in cuba are content with their lives in a communist country
Elian deserved to be raised by his BIOLOGICAL father. End of story. I am a mother, so I know.
He did become the push-me pull-you poster boy for both sides during his father's struggle to get him back. He looks happy enough, and was, and is, a cause celebre in Cuba, which has probably afforded him and his family some extra attention. Elian won't go without, and in this his mother ultimately succeeded.
***
You're a fucking bastard, E.G. and you'll get what's coming to you soon enough! 
DOWN
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WITH
***
THIS
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UNGRATEFUL
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LITTLE
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SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
White Cubans in Miami are all RACISTS ASSHOLES!!
FIY! his family WAS his mother….his dad didn't care for the kid untill the castros used the father to get the kid back as a pice the won in their fight with capitalism a.k.a. United States. If you knew more about Cubans you'll know that's is soooo normal for a kid to be loved and taken cared of by relatives in miami that are not immeadiate family but who know the awful conditions they live in…but of course at least elain is in good sape and condition since he is a huge advertisement for the rest of the world so people can say…oh yeah that's good he was taken back cuz he is healthy and happy…
this poor kid has been so traumatized…having a gun pointed to his face etc. i really feel bad for him and had often wondered whatever happened to him…i hope him all the best and hope he gets the help that he deserves.
look who's lock step marching to his parents dictate! no not elian, YOU perez!!! i've gone toe to toe down at city hall, here in miami, with mostly cuban born americans over gay…er…EQUAL rights. how anyone would want to pass out to others the same repressions experienced by themselves in cuba is beyond me, but here in miami the older generation of cuban refugees would just as much love to see perez and other glbt denied their rights as to see elian be "free". you need to realize, perez, that cuba is no more the same today than the rest of the world is the same as when fidel seized power. each generation takes it's parent's experiences and lessons and hopefully advances them into a more loving and forgiving place. let it go perez, love really can heal all wounds. even the wounds of miami's cuban american population.
I really wish that this would have been handled by the families. There was obviously a break down in communication between the father and the other family with this case. I get the feeling that both families were taken advantage by the media— the father becoming the puppet of Fidel, and the other family being thrust in the spot light for human rights before they even knew it.
They probably could have handled this quietly, since it WAS the father's family that actually had Elian in the U.S. Maybe somehow, someway some Cuban activist heard about this case and suddenly the father was being told "No! He's staying here." What the heck would you do?
They should have gotten a smuggler and a boat, and told Elian's father that they will bring them to the US (the father and his family). And the case would have been over! But instead the media got a hold of it, and Castro— who likely never even heard of this family before hand– got a hold of the father. And puppets everyone became.
See what happens when you don't act cordial?
Re: nycit – You're obviously retarded, so I don't even know why I'm picking on you. The big difference between here and Cuba, is that I can go tell the American government to go shit in a hat if I want to. There is no requirement that I join the military. I fucking hate our government, but I love the fact that the worst that would happen to me if I decided to take a hot dump in front of the White House is that I'd be put in jail, probably fined, and assigned a community service sentence. If I took a hot dump in front of Raul Castro's house, I might end up in prison forever. Get the difference?
Thank you Bill Clinton, Janet Reno etc. You gave that kid up to that monstroso Fidel because you got PUNKED! President Kennedy or Bush would have said, " Come and get him you bastard, dare you!" We all know Hillary had the balls in the family.
Hmmm, wonder if having an m16 pointed at him when he was little more than a toddler could have anything to do with it?
Re: Brianna –
That's a lie. His life and health is better in cuba. His mother was completely irresponsible to force him on that trip and the US Government yanking him away at gun-point (see above picture) couldn't have made him feel safer. Cuban Americans are just as good at propaganda as the Cuban Government. Don't just take what people say at face value, learn for yourself. I've ACTUALLY BEEN there, most places are better than the projects here in the states without the temptation of having to sling crack to make ends meet. Learn for yourselves people!!!
stop it perez. you're a real turn-off when you talk this way. you sound just as bad as Elian.
crazy Cubans in Miami gave us George Bush as president.
BRAINWASHED MUCH? freakin' crazies
Way off base on this one, Perez. Your Cuban politics are a little right wing.
And people who believe in capitalism aren't brainwashed? People in the US like to think they are free, but in reality, it is the rich who benefit from capitalism. Our wholesale belief in this economic system is what provides the rich with the fodder and support to keep getting more rich at the expense of the masses…we are suckers as well!
prejudiced?
Yes, because the USA is such a utopia for children! At least in Cuba he has health care and an excellent education and people who obviously care for him. Stop being so brainwashed yourself Perez!
It'll be great when Miami Cubans finally get to go back get their land back after 45+ years of not being there-ha it'll be a hoot a real riot! Long live the Helms Burton Act-my retirement is future generations are counting on it. I can't wait for them to throw all those Poor Communist Cubans off their land. Cubans promote their pride too much on United States of America soil. If you left the country you are from you're not that anymore!
youre an idiot perez. a real idiot.
viva la revolucion
Re: blue – Hey blue……….FUCK YOU. the last time I checked, there are plans and ships leaving this country EVERY DAY. do us a favor….GET YOUR FUCKING AMERICA HATING ASS ON ONE, PLEASE!!!!
Yeah, the American government is soooo much better. Please! Look to your own shit first AMERICA. Believe it or not you did not invent the world. You invented Kraft Singles, Perez Hilton, and Foxy Boxing. Time to gain a little perspective on shit.
Yes, he certainly looks happier in the picture with the fascist US government thug pointing a gun at him!
Re: Carin – I completely agree with you! Another reason why i HATE living in Miami. I was 12 when that whole Elian Fiasco happened here and it drove everyone crazy. The Cubans here think they own Miami…and sadly they do. That's why Miami is such a mess with its dirty Cuban-oriented politics. No one gets help here except the fuckin Cubiches. My dominican mother and father are u.s. citizens and have been working here for more than 20 years, and I can't believe the masses of Cubans here who can't even read street signs but own a car and a decent house and have a job. Hard work doesn't pay off here.
Fuck the political culture of Miami Cubans! Who gives a rat's ass about that punk or any other shit about Cuba? If you're Cuban and went to Spain true that, but if you're Cuban and went to Miami you're a sell out yellow bastard!
Maybe you should learn the history of your country. The Miami Cubans have long been manipulated by Lincoln Diaz-Balart, the son of a member of the government lead by dictator Batista. All Lincoln Diaz-Balart wants is to install himself as the new dictator in Cuba. Don't you think it is time that the Miami Cubans begin thinking on their own??? A dictator is a dictator, regardless of their political ideology.