The Texas 18th District Blog

Sheila Jackson Lee must really be proud! Elian Gonzales joined Cuba’s Young Communist Union on June 15, 2008.

Friday, June 20th, 2008

In addition to being one of the most liberal Democrats in Congress, has Sheila Jackson-Lee become a Communist recruiter?

Is she celebrating the results of her actions eight years ago?

For those who don’t know the story behind the headlines; Elian Gonzales survived a boating accident off the Florida coast that killed his mother, who was attempting to escape to the U.S. After an extended period of relentless media coverage (during which Republican lawmakers acknowledged they did not have the votes to pass a bill to give Elian U.S. citizenship), the U.S. Courts refused to give the boy amnesty and decided that Elian’s father, who lived in Cuba, rather than the boy’s maternal grandparents in Florida should have custody.

Under orders from Attorney General Janet Reno in the pre-dawn hours of April 22, the Saturday of Easter weekend, eight SWAT-equipped agents of the Border Patrol’s BORTAC unit approached the house, knocked, and identified themselves. When no one responded from within, they entered the house. Pepper-spray and mace were employed against those outside the house who attempted to interfere. Nonetheless, a stool, rocks, and bottles were thrown at the agents.

In the confusion Alan Diaz, of the Associated Press, was able to enter the house and entered a room with Elian, his great uncle’s wife Angela Lazaro, her niece, the niece’s young son, and Donato Dalrymple (one of the fishermen who had rescued him from the ocean). They waited in the room listening to agents search the house. Once they found the locked door to the room, agents kicked it down and Alan Diaz took his famous picture (he won the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography) showing a BORTAC Agent with a MP5 submachine gun pointed toward Elian and Donato Dalrymple. The Agent had his trigger finger along the frame of the weapon. Dalrymple had taken Elian and had tried to hide himself and the boy in the closet but it was too stuffed with clothes.

Elian Gonzalez was returned to Cuba with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, on June 28, 2000. He lived with his family in Cardenas, where his father, Juan Miguel, was a waiter at an Italian restaurant about 20 km northwest of Cardenas. The Cuban State Security set up a monitoring station right next door. Juan Miguel became a member of the National Assembly and attended events for the Communist Party of Cuba with Elian, who was called up to the stage to meet Fidel Castro. Castro also attended a filmed birthday party of Elian with his schoolmates. On the video of the birthday party, a female clown told Elian to blow out the birthday cake candles with Fidel to his right and surrounded by Elian’s schoolmates.

DATELINE:April 23, 2000: SHEILA JACKSON-LEE:

This is a very special day for many Christians, a day of ultimate sacrifice and forgiveness. And I think Americans should focus today on the fact that a little boy is reunited with his father and his family and focus on the healing for Elian and focus on the fact that we did the right thing. In particular, noting the passion of the Cuban Americans and the passion of the Miami relatives, it was extremely important to make sure that Elian was reunited with his father.

COMMENTATOR:

So you support the two of them going back to Cuba, if indeed that’s what happens.

LEE:

I certainly would, because I think it is the choice of the father for the family to be reunited. It is not a political issue. It should not be politicized, and I applaud Janet Reno and the operations that went very safely, and I think Americans need to understand that if the rule of law is to be followed, then we need to support our law enforcement for a magnificent effort of having secured Elian safely without one gun being fired. I applaud her for her initiative and her passion for the people in Miami and for having this day, a day where Elian Gonzalez is reunited with a loving father, his stepmother, and his new baby brother.

Now 14, Elian was 6 when his relatives in Miami, Florida, lost their fight to keep him in the United States and he was returned to Cuba in mid-2000 with his father. He joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008.

I am reminded of the story of the man who, while walking the beach, saw someone in the distance leaning down, picking something up and throwing it into the sea. As he came closer, he saw thousands of starfish the tide had thrown onto the beach. Unable to return to the ocean during low tide, the starfish were dying. He observed a young boy picking up the starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.

After watching the seemingly futile effort, the observer said, “There must be thousands of starfish on this beach. It would be impossible for you to save all of them. There are simply too many. You can’t possibly make a difference.”

The young boy smiled as he picked up another starfish and tossed it back into the ocean. “It made a difference to that one,” he replied.

Sheila Jackson Lee truly “made a difference to that one”. According to the Communist youth newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Elian Gonzalez has said he will never let down ex-President Fidel Castro and his brother Raul Castro, who succeeded Fidel as president earlier this year.

Now we can make a DIFFERENCE by electing John Faulk to the Texas 18th Congressional District on November 4, 2008.

Tags: Communist, Cuba, Election, Elian Gonzales, John Faulk, Sheila Jackson Lee, Texas 18th Congressional District
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