How do you say "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?" in Spanish?
Kate O'Beirne is NR's Washington editor. Natinal Review Online, April 10, 2000
In the past months plenty of politicians, including Gov. George Bush and Sen. John McCain, urged Juan Miguel Gonzalez to come to America where he could "breathe freedom" before deciding Elián's fate. Well, Juan Miguel is finally in the States, but Castro's stench has followed
him north.
Since he arrived last week, Elián's father has been exclusively in the company of Castro's American allies. With his Cuban handlers hovering nearby, he met privately at Justice Department headquarters with Janet Reno and Doris Meissner, two of the top US officials who are irrevocably
committed to returning Elián to Cuba. At his Cuban host's home in Bethesda, there has been a steady stream of visitors sympathetic to Castro's demand for the boy's return.
One American visitor, from a town in Wisconsin that has a sister city relationship with a Cuban village, reported that Mr. Gonzalez was most anxious to get his son back home. She helpfully explained, "He knows in Cuba that Elián will have a lot of educational opportunities that,
because of the cost here, he might not have."
This, needless to say, is a joke. If Mr. Gonzalez's US attorney, Gregory Craig, were really worried about his client's interests, he would be offering to represent the father of the most famous child in America in making all the lucrative deals that await him. How do you say "Who Wants to
be A Millionaire?" in Spanish? Juan Miguel is no doubt unaware that the Cuban-American exile community has not just been demonstrating, they also have raised tens of thousands of dollars to finance Elián's legal defense. The family's relocation to the States would be generously
subsidized. But it's a safe bet that no one who is allowed to get anywhere close to Mr. Gonzalez will straighten out his misunderstandings and point out his real choices.
Congress might not have a legislative remedy to prevent the injustice being done to Elián and his father, because a vote on residency might well fail — and thus provide yet more fodder for the Elián-deporters. But members can certainly demand that Mr. Gonzalez not be at the
mercy of Fidel Castro while residing in the shadow of the US Capitol. So here's something useful (and splashy) that Congress can do: Dispatch the Capitol Hill police to provide an escort to the Hill for Mr. Gonzalez, his wife, and baby for a meeting with congressmen who could freely explain his
many, attractive options — outside of earshot of Cuban agents and their American collaborators.
It will be a disgrace if Trent Lott, Dennis Hastert, and Dick Armey allow Elián's father to return to Cuba without getting at least one breath of the freedom his first wife died seeking.
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