Elian’s Legacy
Federal Child Abuse in Miami?
0.08
‘Run, Bayamans, to the combat’ - the revolution song against the Spanish colonialists is the Cuban national anthem, wherever they live.
In Miami, American Cubans have two battles to wage - one against the US government which has handed Elian Gonzalez back to his father, (shot of old fellow brandishing Elian’s picture) and one against Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba. The sole survivor of a shipwrecked attempt to flee Cuba last November, 6 year old Elian soon became the centre of a bitter custody battle between his relatives in this community and his father in Cuba.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators here believe that Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro are conspiring against them and that Castro, Clinton and Janet Reno, the US minister of justice are the bad guys. (picture of poster with three aforementioned depicted as snakes)
I/V, woman 0.56
It’s child abuse and violence against the family - it shouldn’t have happened here in the United States.
1.07
I/V , second woman
That is not America - that’s all I can tell you
01.12
The little house where Elian spent five months of his young life has become a place of pilgrimage. For months his relatives refused to give Elian up to the authorities and all parties concerned seemed intent on deferring any decisions. But although the courts are still debating the case, Elian has now gone.There are words of comfort for his great uncle Delfin Gonzalez (fellow Cubans speak to him) , and Elian is being revered like the Holy Child, his suffering likened to that of Jesus.
(1.45 - shot of frieze)
The neighbouring house has scenes of Elian’s miraculous deliverance from the sea’s deathly clutches. Dolphins protect Elian, his drowned mother hovers behind him, the virgin Mary above him, and in the distance the personification of evil - Fidel Castro.
2.05
The armed federal agents who seized Elian from his relatives’ house in April are also seen as evil incarnate, the accomplices of Fidel Castro.
2.16
Most Americans did not think these measures drastic - after all the police were acting within the law and they thought that the child should be returned to his father. But here in Little Havana a rather different view prevails. Many of Miami’s Cubans arrived here themselves on home-made boats, often losing family members on the way. They have rebuilt their lives in exile , and Elian has become a symbol of their cause. They fear his return to an dictatorial regime - one that they have been fighting for decades.
02.50
The boy will stay with his father, who wants to live in Cuba. This is incomprehensible for the Miami Cubans who are making a good profit from their Elian souvenirs.
3.01.
‘Federal child abuse’ is a popular slogan here. The case has stirred up the Cuban-American community, who are proud of their wealth and do not want to see ‘their’ child return to what they see as poverty and oppression. The atmosphere is tense, and alternative opinions are unwelcome
I/V man in car
3.20
I think that what happened was right - the boy belongs with his father. That’s what’s they wanted and that’s what they’re getting.
I/V
screaming woman 3.33
‘He will starve there!’
man 3.36
Get outta here!
3.37
Elena Freyre has had to put up with similar abuse. She belongs to a minority of exiled Cubans who took action to see that Elian was returned to his father.
I/V Elena Freyre, Cuban committee for democracy.
3.45
The way this issue has been framed is as if Elian is being personally handed over to Fidel Castro. The hatred of the Cuban regime and Fidel Castro is so great that everything to do with Cuba is seen in that light.
Realistically, if the child came from any other part of the world, it would be the natural right of a surviving parent to have his child back.
04.12
But nothing is that simple here in Little Havanna. Cubans make up a third of Miami’s population and they are used to having their voices heard. Until recently the American dollar was banned in Cuba, so they re-invested in Miami instead of sending money home. Their powerful lobby has influenced America’s Cuban policy considerably for decades and has partly been responsible for the isolation of Fidel Castro - his overthrow is their ultimate aim.
But now in the case of Elian, the government has not done what the lobby wanted - a bitter defeat, but also a good excuse to drum up national pride and to say - ‘Yes - we’re here too but we’re different and we’re going to to stay that way.’
Luis Zuniga, of the Cuban-American National Foundation takes exactly this line.
I/V
Luis Zuniga
05.02
We’re very proud of our culture, our roots and our individuality. That’s why we stick to our language and our customs. The US government has tried to integrate us into American culture for many years, but that’s not what we want . We are not separating, because we know that in the US we are law-abiding people, we respect the law but we protest.
05.37
Indeed, the Cuban community is making ist protest very clear. After the police action at Elian’s relatives’ house, shops in Little Havana closed for a day .
Not all shopkeepers wanted to close, but they were gently persuaded that it would be better for everyone if they did. And the pensioners in the Domino bar would prefer to keep quiet on the controversial subject of Elian.
I/V Elena Freyre, Cuban committee for democracy.
06.10
I’m afraid that we can talk about democracy, but we’re not very good at practising it. If you express an unpopular opinion here, a lot of pressure is put on you to not speak up.
6.26
‘Viva Cuba Libre’ - may Cuba be free. Hatred of Fidel Castro and hopes of returning home after his reign are what keep this community together and alive. Even the elderly people in the dance club are not giving up hope -they are practising to dance again in Havana one day.
Maybe Elian will be grown up by then. But now he’s back with his father and will return with him to Cuba. Here, he’s still and probably always will be Little Havana’s lost son.
Federal Child Abuse in Miami?
0.08
‘Run, Bayamans, to the combat’ - the revolution song against the Spanish colonialists is the Cuban national anthem, wherever they live.
In Miami, American Cubans have two battles to wage - one against the US government which has handed Elian Gonzalez back to his father, (shot of old fellow brandishing Elian’s picture) and one against Fidel Castro’s regime in Cuba. The sole survivor of a shipwrecked attempt to flee Cuba last November, 6 year old Elian soon became the centre of a bitter custody battle between his relatives in this community and his father in Cuba.
Tens of thousands of demonstrators here believe that Bill Clinton and Fidel Castro are conspiring against them and that Castro, Clinton and Janet Reno, the US minister of justice are the bad guys. (picture of poster with three aforementioned depicted as snakes)
I/V, woman 0.56
It’s child abuse and violence against the family - it shouldn’t have happened here in the United States.
1.07
I/V , second woman
That is not America - that’s all I can tell you
01.12
The little house where Elian spent five months of his young life has become a place of pilgrimage. For months his relatives refused to give Elian up to the authorities and all parties concerned seemed intent on deferring any decisions. But although the courts are still debating the case, Elian has now gone.There are words of comfort for his great uncle Delfin Gonzalez (fellow Cubans speak to him) , and Elian is being revered like the Holy Child, his suffering likened to that of Jesus.
(1.45 - shot of frieze)
The neighbouring house has scenes of Elian’s miraculous deliverance from the sea’s deathly clutches. Dolphins protect Elian, his drowned mother hovers behind him, the virgin Mary above him, and in the distance the personification of evil - Fidel Castro.
2.05
The armed federal agents who seized Elian from his relatives’ house in April are also seen as evil incarnate, the accomplices of Fidel Castro.
2.16
Most Americans did not think these measures drastic - after all the police were acting within the law and they thought that the child should be returned to his father. But here in Little Havana a rather different view prevails. Many of Miami’s Cubans arrived here themselves on home-made boats, often losing family members on the way. They have rebuilt their lives in exile , and Elian has become a symbol of their cause. They fear his return to an dictatorial regime - one that they have been fighting for decades.
02.50
The boy will stay with his father, who wants to live in Cuba. This is incomprehensible for the Miami Cubans who are making a good profit from their Elian souvenirs.
3.01.
‘Federal child abuse’ is a popular slogan here. The case has stirred up the Cuban-American community, who are proud of their wealth and do not want to see ‘their’ child return to what they see as poverty and oppression. The atmosphere is tense, and alternative opinions are unwelcome
I/V man in car
3.20
I think that what happened was right - the boy belongs with his father. That’s what’s they wanted and that’s what they’re getting.
I/V
screaming woman 3.33
‘He will starve there!’
man 3.36
Get outta here!
3.37
Elena Freyre has had to put up with similar abuse. She belongs to a minority of exiled Cubans who took action to see that Elian was returned to his father.
I/V Elena Freyre, Cuban committee for democracy.
3.45
The way this issue has been framed is as if Elian is being personally handed over to Fidel Castro. The hatred of the Cuban regime and Fidel Castro is so great that everything to do with Cuba is seen in that light.
Realistically, if the child came from any other part of the world, it would be the natural right of a surviving parent to have his child back.
04.12
But nothing is that simple here in Little Havanna. Cubans make up a third of Miami’s population and they are used to having their voices heard. Until recently the American dollar was banned in Cuba, so they re-invested in Miami instead of sending money home. Their powerful lobby has influenced America’s Cuban policy considerably for decades and has partly been responsible for the isolation of Fidel Castro - his overthrow is their ultimate aim.
But now in the case of Elian, the government has not done what the lobby wanted - a bitter defeat, but also a good excuse to drum up national pride and to say - ‘Yes - we’re here too but we’re different and we’re going to to stay that way.’
Luis Zuniga, of the Cuban-American National Foundation takes exactly this line.
I/V
Luis Zuniga
05.02
We’re very proud of our culture, our roots and our individuality. That’s why we stick to our language and our customs. The US government has tried to integrate us into American culture for many years, but that’s not what we want . We are not separating, because we know that in the US we are law-abiding people, we respect the law but we protest.
05.37
Indeed, the Cuban community is making ist protest very clear. After the police action at Elian’s relatives’ house, shops in Little Havana closed for a day .
Not all shopkeepers wanted to close, but they were gently persuaded that it would be better for everyone if they did. And the pensioners in the Domino bar would prefer to keep quiet on the controversial subject of Elian.
I/V Elena Freyre, Cuban committee for democracy.
06.10
I’m afraid that we can talk about democracy, but we’re not very good at practising it. If you express an unpopular opinion here, a lot of pressure is put on you to not speak up.
6.26
‘Viva Cuba Libre’ - may Cuba be free. Hatred of Fidel Castro and hopes of returning home after his reign are what keep this community together and alive. Even the elderly people in the dance club are not giving up hope -they are practising to dance again in Havana one day.
Maybe Elian will be grown up by then. But now he’s back with his father and will return with him to Cuba. Here, he’s still and probably always will be Little Havana’s lost son.