By Brigida Benitez and Jorge Benitez. The Wall Street Journal . April 25, 2000. Editorial Page
Mrs. Benitez is a Washington lawyer. Mr. Benitez, a doctoral candidate at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, has worked at the Pentagon's Office of NATO Policy.
The storming of Elian Gonzalez's house by gun-toting federal agents wasn't the only incident of brutality by those eager to deport the boy to communist Cuba. Eight days earlier, as we held a peaceful vigil for Elian on a Washington sidewalk, 10 to 15 men emerged from the Cuban Interests
Section and attacked us.
According to the official police report filed by uniformed Secret Service officers who witnessed the incident, "Cuban employees of the mission came out and began to assault the demonstrators on the front sidewalk." These assailants are the very same Cuban officials who have been the
daily companions of Elian's father and into whose custody the Justice Department would deliver helpless Elian.
One week after this physical assault by foreign "diplomats" on Americans exercising their constitutional rights, no arrests have been made. Instead of holding the suspects for questioning, federal law-enforcement officials simply let them return to their compound. Had the assailants
been held for questioning, we would know their identities and whether they have diplomatic immunity. If they do, then the State Department could expel them from the country. If not, then they could be prosecuted under American law. To no one's surprise, once the suspects were allowed to enter
the Cuban Interests Section, Havana's diplomats refused to identify them.
We were among the dozen or so demonstrators attacked. The assailants rolled up their sleeves, walked through their iron gate and started hitting us. The first person they attacked was a woman, whom they picked up and threw to the ground. The attackers grabbed the flags we were carrying and
pummeled us with the poles. We didn't fight back; we had no time to do anything but absorb their blows. Some of us were later treated at area hospitals for injuries including head trauma and contusions.
Four of the victims of the assault were women. What could be more horrible than to see communist "diplomats" attack innocent women with the American flag? To see them walk away and not brought to justice. There can be no question that this was a serious crime. In fact, under
District of Columbia law, the use of an object such as a metal flagpole constitutes assault with a dangerous weapon, a felony.
This was an unprovoked attack. Third-party witness statements corroborate official police accounts that reveal no provocation for the assault. Law-enforcement officials witnessed the entire vigil and reported no crime committed by the demonstrators. According to the police report and State
Department officials, at no time prior to the assault on U.S. citizens did the Cuban Interests Section complain about the actions of the demonstrators. The only criminal complaints filed have been by us, the victims of the assault.
Even though the men were allowed to leave without questioning, there is ample evidence of their identity. At least some of the assailants from the Cuban Interests Section can be identified by police officers and eyewitnesses. The victims themselves have provided physical descriptions of some
of the assailants. And a pack of business cards belonging to Armando Collazo, first secretary of the Interests Section, was found at the crime scene. Public disclosure of the identities of the attackers is simply a matter of time. Police have told the victims that this week they will show us a
photo lineup that will include pictures of potential suspects provided by the State Department.
Elian is now sequestered in Maryland under the custody of U.S. marshals.Diplomats from the Interests Sections reportedly have been present when the boy was at Andrews Air Force Base. The Justice Department plans to move Elian to the Wye Plantation conference center. Janet Reno must ensure
that only members of the Gonzalez family are allowed access to him. In particular, the men under criminal investigation for assaulting Americans must not be allowed anywhere near the boy. The very least the American public can demand is that Elian be kept away from the thugs who attacked us. |