With Carl Limbacher and Staff. For the story behind the story... NewsMax.com. Monday July 10, 2000 9:17 AM EST
So far Castro has been playing the little 6-year-old for all he's worth.
Castro, Greg Craig, Juan Miguel were always so quick to say just how bad the Miami relatives were for "using" little Elian by having his privacy and childhood invaded by media cameras.
The major media spin doctors here in the U.S. echoed their worries about how the little boy was simply a pawn.
Since his return to Cuba, little Elian has been, well, a pawn of Castro. State cameras seem to be focused all on him.
Last week the Castro government said that rather than having a common life, little Elian "will always be, rather than a normal citizen, a symbol, an example and a glory for all the chilren of Cuba, and pride for all the teachers of Cuba."
Has anyone noticed that the Elian we saw smiling in front of his Miami home can't seem to find a smile back on Castro's prison island?
As the New York Post noted this weekend, Elian may be suffering the same fate as Andy Morales, the real "poster boy" of Castro's Cuba.
Morales, a star Cuban baseball player, fled Cuba by boat. His boat was intercepted by a U.S. Coast Guard ship, and under federal law he could not claim asylum here in the U.S.
Morales was returned by U.S. authorities to Cuba just a few months ago. Though the Cuban government has promised there would be no reprisals for such returned individuals, Castro had other plans for Morales.
Castro's state police are monitoring Morales 24 hours a day, fearful he may make another try to escape.
"They told me they are protecting me - so that someone doesn't try to lure me to the United States," Morales told the New York Post. "This is the worst time in my life," he said.
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