Commentary: Elian case is politics as usual

Mennonite Central Committee
Saturday, 19 February 2000

AKRON, Pa. -- As you read, a judge is deciding the fate of Elian Gonzalez, a 6-year-old Cuban refugee found in the waters of the Caribbean in December, his mother dead at sea, his relatives in the United States refusing to return the boy to his father. As you read, politicians stubbornly enforce antiquated sanctions against Cuba. And as you read, ordinary Cubans suffer under the oppression of those sanctions.

The legacy of the Cold War lives on in the Elian Gonzalez case -- another example of the politicization of the relationship between two nations mired in their own distrust and ignorance of each other. Politics, not humanitarian concerns, again dictate U.S. relations with Cuba.

"The church communities we walk with in Cuba ask us to respond by striving to live out our faith and its call to humbly do justice and mercy with everyone," notes Willroy Grant of San Jose, Costa Rica, a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) intern serving in Cuba. "Our Cuban brothers and sisters want us to remember that this is not a contest over what socio-political system is the best for a child to grow under, but rather what family atmosphere may better suit and nurture Elian in all the aspects of his life."

Elian Gonzalez, a pawn in a tiresome four decade long chess game, probably understands little about the political battle over his "freedom." He must grieve the tragic death of his mother, without his father, and in the company of virtual strangers. And while Congress, the President and the media endlessly debate the implications of U.S.-Cuban relations, he plays alone under the "up-to-the-minute" scrutiny of TV cameras.

Why is a 6-year-old Cuban even in the news? Hundreds of Cubans found in the water, dictated by INS rules, are returned to Cuba each year. The Elian Gonzalez case involves the United States' oldest and most pesky nemesis, against which it maintains a persistent enmity.

"The embargo placed on Cuba in the early 1960s is increasing suffering of people in Cuba," explains Marty Shupack of the MCC U.S. Washington Office. Agricultural inputs and food are in short supply. Advanced medicines are nearly impossible to obtain because U.S. pharmaceutical companies hold patents on those products and cannot trade with Cuba. The result, says Shupack, is that more people are dying from infectious diseases and babies are born with low birth weights.

"Jesus tells us to love our enemies. It is important to reach out to people in countries deemed enemies by the United States. Food and medicine should not be included in sanctions," says Shupack.

The embargo had little effect on Cuba prior to the fall of its primary trading partners, the Soviet bloc states in Eastern Europe. Now in its 40th year, the U.S. economic embargo aggravates the suffering of ordinary Cubans, without weakening Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

MCC and MCC U.S. have been active in recent years calling for an end to the embargo. The Senate approved an amendment last year to the Agriculture Appropriations bill that would have exempted food and medicine from the embargo. MCC advocated for the issue, but the amendment was dropped in conference committee.

The embargo means Cuban people suffer under outdated sanctions meant to isolate them during a Cold War that ended a decade ago -- and now a 7-year-old boy is separated from his family.

The embargo is kept in place and Elian Gonzalez is before the courts because the U.S., spurred on by the Cuban American lobby, maintains a single-minded focus on ousting Castro. Cuban leader Fidel Castro has done his level best to politicize the Elian issue to his benefit, as well. For years he has blamed the U.S. embargo as a major reason for Cuba's economic troubles.

"A beginning" to ending this debate, says Grant, "might be to prayerfully insure that the issue is not only seen through politicized lenses. We should instead focus on the reconciliation of two neighbor nations."

MCC encourages individuals and congregations to write their member of Congress and call for an end to economic sanctions on Cuba.

For more information, or to contact Mennonite Central Committee, see their website at: www.mcc.org