Carlos Saladrigas. Published Friday, May 12, 2000, in the Miami Herald
We, Miami Cuban Americans, have been taught some lessons.
In the end, Cuban Americans have much for which to thank Attorney General Janet Reno. In the midst of our pain, our eyes are opening to certain inescapable realities. Long-dormant concerns are acquiring renewed urgency.
I thank Reno, because never before have I seen the entire Cuban-American community galvanized. She has awakened in my children and in their U.S.-born generation a fresh realization of their Cuban-American identity and a marvelous commitment to strengthen it. She has turned successful
Cuban-American business people from apathetic bystanders of exile politics into committed apostles for Cuba's struggle for democracy and human rights.
We, Miami Cuban Americans, have been taught some enormously important lessons:
We must realize that we often behave as a minority, even though we are the majority.
We must demand that our local elected officials behave like local elected officials, not like exile leaders.
We must remind our representatives in Washington that their primary responsibility is to bring home the bacon.
We must remember that only by showing our capacity to govern ethically and effectively can we then preach to our brethren in Cuba the virtues of democracy.
We don't need to swing the bat every time Fidel Castro pitches a ball. We must know which fights to pick. We must learn to be strategically offensive rather than tactically reactive. Unlike Castro, we have nothing to fear from a free market of ideas.
We must realize that by focusing our attention on Castro, we anchor ourselves with the past, because Castro and his revolution are irrelevant to Cuba's future. His ideology is bankrupt and has led the Cuban nation to economic and moral ruin. The revolution cannot offer a future, only a
tumultuous, empty past.
Cubans need a vision -- a vision that brings hope to the millions of young people who are withering away in hopelessness and depression. Reno has made us realize that it is best to dismiss Castro as irrelevant and to seize the opportunity to lead our beleaguered nation in crafting a vision for
its future.
Take note: The determination of the Cuban-American community to lead the struggle for change in Cuba has not been diminished. We will not abdicate this responsibility. On the contrary, recent events have made us realize that we have a moral and historical duty to lead the way and show the Cuban
nation the path to freedom and prosperity.
When all Cuban children can see a future full of hope and opportunity, there will be no more Elians.
Carlos Saladrigas, chief executive officer of ADP TotalSource, was among those seeking to negotiate a peaceful transfer of Elian Gonzalez to his father's custody when the INS seized the child.
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