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If Elian's father had not come for him, would he have grown up thinking his father didn't love him?  What a burden for a child who saw his mother drown!  Gang activity, alcohol and drug use, crime, drive-by shootings and other violence are the norm in this area, despite the police department's excellent efforts recent years.  If Elian stayed, would he have fallen into one of these traps?   What guarantee was there that the notoriety wouldn't have resulted in his being kidnapped, or that he would have been able to grow up straight and well-adjusted, given the  circumstances?   

If Elian leaves the USA, will he become a symbol for Castro?  Is he scarred for life by his experiences the past four months?  Will he resent not having the mountains of toys and clothes and easy access to Disneyworld available to so many children in Miami?  Worse, how will be react to the incredible shortages of food in Cuba?  

Children are allowed rationed amounts of milk only until perhaps seven years of age.   There is very little meat, and only enough rice, beans, bread and vegetables to keep people alive, and none of that easy to come by.  There certainly isn't take-out pizza, the Colonel's Fried Chicken, Burgers and fries, fish sticks, ice cream trucks or canned soft drinks, doubtful choices that almost all children in the USA love and crave.  Now that Elian has seen our supermarkets and fast-food emporiums, how will he react to Cuba's scarcities?

Twenty-some years ago the door opened for Cuban exiles to visit their families in Cuba without penalties.  They were able to carry 45 pounds, I believe, of baggage per person.  There was a flood of traffic immediately, with people bringing needy and desperate family members medicines, vitamins, clothing and even items that could be bartered on the black market for food.  Weeks of planning went into each journey; choosing what items to take, which to leave.   

My neighbor's large extended family lived in Matanzas, one of the breadbaskets of Cuba.   Teresa had sent her two children, the oldest girl my daughter's age, on several trips, and even paid the fare for the daughter of another neighbor to go, provided that child took another 45-pound bag for Teresa's family.   Two weeks before one such trip that neighbor's child had some kind of problem and the father refused to let her go.    So there sat Teresa with three visas and air tickets, three 45-pound bags, and only two kids.   The USA and Cuba had been rattling sabers loudly at each other for a couple of weeks, and Teresa couldn't find anyone else willing to send their child.  She asked if my mid-teen daughter Cathy, who had learned to speak Spanish already, would like to travel to Cuba and take the third bag.    Page 1  2  3

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