No, this isn't a 'reverse' Elián González case.
Editorial. Published Wednesday, November 29, 2000, in the
Miami Herald
A child yanked from a loving parent always tugs at the heart. So we
sympathize with Jonathon Colombini, a 5-year-old Keys boy taken to Cuba by his
mother against his father's wishes.
But No, this isn't a "reverse'' Elián González case. Nor
is it more painful a drama than that of countless other parents kept apart from
their children by Cuba's government.
Certainly it's not easy for father Jon Colombini of Homestead. Former wife
Arletis Blanco Pérez, who shares custody of their U.S.-born son, ran with
Jonathon to her native Cuba.
Unlike in the Elián case, however, both parents are alive. Ms. Blanco
Pérez is suspected of embezzling $150,000 from her employer, and she can
speak as to why she fled. Also, there's no reason to fear that the U.S.
government would persecute Jonathon if he were returned home or pressure Mr.
Colombini to come back on the off chance he decided to stay in Cuba.
More aptly the Colombini case parallels some 900 others where the U.S. State
Department is trying to help a parent whose child was illegally abducted to a
foreign country by the other parent. One big difference: Jonathon has been taken
to Cuba, which doesn't have diplomatic relations with the United States.
Ideally, and on occasion, such situations may be resolved by the parents
themselves. More often -- even when there's a cooperative foreign government and
diplomatic efforts -- it's difficult to bring home a child. With Cuba's
unfriendly regime, there's no telling.
Cuba is not a party to the Hague Convention, an international treaty that
governs parental child abduction. The regime also has a habit of punishing
countless Cuban families by denying exit permits to children and other relatives
when one member has defected.
For example, defector José Cohen's wife, three children and parents
all have U.S. visas to come from Cuba but have been held back by the regime
since 1996. Yet we can only urge the regime to grant exit visas for the sake of
reuniting this and other such families.
Mr. Colombini is fortunate to have U.S. State Department help. He even may
benefit from whatever goodwill was generated by the United States's returning of
Elián to Cuba. We wish him well and pray for Jonathon's well being.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald | 