© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com. Monday, August 28, 2000.
I know. I know. The headline alone turns you off. You're sick of reading about Elian Gonzalez. You're happy he's back with his father in Cuba and out of the news. Enough is enough. Right?
Isn't that interesting? Isn't it fascinating the way the U.S. media establishment has lost all interest in this boy who dominated the news only a few weeks ago now that he is back in Cuba? Isn't it a marvel the way Janet Reno and her Gestapo Justice Department, so concerned about Elian's "best
interests" a few weeks ago, has lost all curiosity about the kid's fate now?
Have you wondered about Elian at all since he left? Have you given him a moment's thought? Have you prayed for his safety and the well-being of other kids like him living in totalitarian sinkholes like Cuba?
That's the trouble. Out of sight, out of mind. Once Elian was out of the news and out of the limelight, he was out of consciousness. Anything could happen to Elian now and there wouldn't be a thing any of us could do about it. We've lost all leverage. We wouldn't even know if he was chained to a
bed with thumbscrews on him night and day.
Remember when we were assured that we had nothing to worry about with regard to Elian's safety and well-being because of the high-profile nature of his case? We were told over and over again by advocates of his return to Cuba that the Fidel Castro regime wouldn't dare to harm a hair on his young
head.
Well, well, well. How soon everyone forgets. What a short memory the U.S. public has when its concerns are manipulated by a press establishment that has virtually no presence in Castro's island prison.
Let's face it. Anything is possible in Cuba where television cameras are forbidden -- or at least strictly controlled. People disappear in countries run by dictatorial regimes all the time. It's a fact of life. It's an everyday occurrence.
So what is happening to Elian in Cuba? There are lots of rumors flying around the Internet. The most recent has him being beaten by his father and landing in the hospital with a broken jaw.
Is there any truth to it? Who knows? Elian now lives in the netherworld. The TV cameras are off. The reporters have no access. We will only hear what Fidel Castro wants us to hear about his fate. And, right now, anyway, that is nothing.
And nothing is suspicious in and of itself. Why isn't Castro parading the boy through the streets of Havana? Why isn't he showing his smiling face on the state-controlled news? Why aren't there photos of him in Granma, the official newspaper? Why aren't there interviews with him being broadcast
on Radio Havana?
Anyone familiar with the Cuban regime and its history of propaganda would have to conclude that something is wrong. Please don't tell me Castro cares about the kid's privacy and is respecting his time alone with his Dad. That doesn't wash. That's not the way things work in Cuba.
No, something is definitely awry.
What's worse is the fact that my voice is the only one even asking the question in America. The rest of the media are silent. Elian's gone. He's is assumed to be happy in his homeland. Nobody is asking questions -- not even CNN, which maintains a nominal presence in Cuba.
It's a great illustration of just why it was such a phenomenally bad idea to send this precious kid back to Castro's police state. Castro is a monster, a fiend, a power-hungry tyrant who answers to no one. His main motivation in life is contempt for the United States. Having Elian in his
clutches is like having a hostage near and dear to all of our hearts.
It's always a bad sign when you don't see any pictures of a hostage, when you don't hear his voice.
I pray young Elian is living a life of simplicity and seclusion with his father in Cuba. But wishing and hoping and praying doesn't make it so. The world should, at the very least, demand to see and hear him periodically.
I'm ready, on a moment's notice, to meet with Elian and his father. Is Castro ready to permit it? Will he, at least, allow the semi-official cameras of CNN to see what's up with the child? With as much as we have invested emotionally with this case, the world has a right to know.
Editor's note: Joseph Farah is on the road, slaying the dragons of government waste, fraud, corruption and abuse at every turn. For the next week, his column will appear as his schedule and Internet connection permit.
A daily radio broadcast adaptation of Joseph Farah's commentaries can be heard on TalkNetDaily.
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