Few incidents in recent years have caused a furor and raised the spectre of the Cold War as much as the Elian Gonzales custody and immigration issue. A six year old boy seems to have re-ignited decades-old tensions between the democratic U.S. and communist Cuba. Despite all the fuss and emotion over a mother who died striving to reach the hallowed free shores of the U.S. for herself and her son, despite all the parlor-room talk of custody and doting grandmothers, and despite all the fascination and charm over the six year old Elian himself, this issue is one of politics. Nonetheless, everyone from poet to politician seems to have an opinion as to the future fate of Elian.
Initially, a Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge, Rosa Rodriguez, ruled that Elian’s great-uncle be awarded temporary custody of the boy. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) deliberated on the issue for a month and a half before deciding that Elian belongs with his father in Cuba. President Clinton affirmed this decision by stating that the matter was an international issue and should fall under the jurisdiction of the INS. Cuban American protestors were outraged and their fiery Spokeswoman Sylvia Iriondo made it clear in no uncertain terms that Elian should stay with family members in the U.S., especially since his dying mother’s wish was such. The long-suffering Attorney General Janet Reno was pulled into the fray when she stated that “the INS decision was correct and that a state court judge in Florida, who has granted temporary custody of Elian to his great-uncle, had no jurisdiction” (Balch 1).
These steps only further exacerbated the issue among Cuban American protestors in Florida who want the boy to remain in the U.S. and protestors in Cuba who vehemently descried U.S. actions as political and typical of U.S. arrogance. Politicians soon joined the melee, including Republican Representative Dan Burton and Republican Senator Bob ...