That would go over well, I'm sure. After all this time, he wants only to poke a stick at those who, right or wrong, thought they were helping him--were willing to fight for him?

They were using the kid for politics and personal gain.

The best thing the grown up Elian could do is brush them off his shirt tails and move on, honestly.

They do owe him an apology. He'll never get one, though.

There were crowds standing in front of the house around the clock, there were snipers holed up in surrounding houses, threatening to open up if government officials came to pick him up to deliver him to his father.

Some in the crowd led by Ramon Saul Sanchez used various opportunities to practice perfecting their "human chain" which they would have at the ready to leap into action the moment government agents showed up:

[center]





Ramon Saul Sanchez got pepper sprayed when they did come. Did he forget to do the "human chain"?[/center]

but, I do not think all were intentionally exploiting him, though undoubtedly most were... I see no benefit to his starting that turmoil all over again. If he wants to come as a "grown up" and visit the US, great. But, if he is doing so to open old wounds now decades old, then please let him stay at home.

It's not as if he just opened up and let'er rip.

He was quoted in some article regarding the same interview that he wanted to thank the Americans who tried to help him, were supporting him while he was here, that he was very grateful.

There isn't a whole lot to be said for the hysterical, loud, belligerent people who crowded around the house, there were criminals among them, including two uncles (twins), cousins of Marisleysis, who, herself threatened Janice Reno when she implied there could be trouble if anyone came to get Elian, there was a frequent guest there, a Miami hero, Orlando Bosch, a former CIA operative, who co-authored a bombing mid-air of a Cubana airliner, murdering its passengers and crew, and who boasted "there were no innocents aboard that plane" during an interview. They were previous supporters, or employees, of the previous Fulgencio Batista government which employed death squads to run down suspected leftists, tortured, murdered, sometimes quartered them, hung them in trees, or lamp posts, threw them in the street, or forced them to dig deep holes then shot them and threw them in, or put them in cloth seed bags, threw on gasoline, set them on fire, etc., etc., etc. One of the leftists, a radio host in Havana, shot himself on the air in a desperate attempt to get the world's attention to the hell going on in Cuba. These were Batista supporters, holed up in Miami, hoping the US government would overthrow the revolution so they could put everything back just the way they had it before the people threw them out.

Yeah, that impertinent little brat. He could really use a good swatting, couldn't he, for disrespecting the "U.S."? I don't think so.

After the revolution, there have been continuing attacks on the island from the "exile" community, its members even brag, as Rodolfo Frometo did, that the US gov't simply turns its head the other way if they want to go to Cuba and shoot down their enemies, or strafe the beach from their boats, trying to terrorize tourists, etc.

Elian's dad, once a cop, got a job in a hotel next. I'm sure he had some great stories to tell his son regarding the terror attempts on hotels, the bombings, the "drive by" boat gun attacks from the water, etc., or little landing groups, armed to the teeth like some they caught there ready to "kick ass" before getting caught, and put in jail.

Bombers entering hotels, hiding bombs, going into discos, planting more bombs, etc., etc., etc. Even tried to blow up a monument for Che Guevara.

Not to mention the down-low flyovers of Havana, flying so low people could see the insignias on the aircraft, trying to terrorize city dwellers. Cretins. Monsters. This was a habit of the Brothers to the Rescue, "Hermanos al Rescate," led by Jose Basulto, who, himself, originally flew planes against the Cuban people for Fulgencio Batista.

Endless. All because the US government has plotted to own Cuba since the 1800's. It's even mentioned in the Secretary of War's memorandum written on Christmas Eve, 1897, the "Breckenridge Memorandum."

You weren't aware they forced Elian to rehearse a speech they wrote for him telling his dad that he wanted to stay in Florida, and didn't want to go back to Cuba? The little guy was exhausted, absolutely spent, and they kept him practicing until he got it right for their video which they immediately released. That really has to bring back those fond memories to the young man he is today.

[center][/center]
That really looks so spontaneous.

Oh, well.

Apparently decades later you want to fight that issue again. I don't. I want to move forward with Cuba-American relations.

“I hope he doesn’t come. It would be very polarizing. People who were trying to save him were beaten by police; some who went to bat for him ended up in jail. People lost their jobs who stayed in front of the house praying for him,” (Mayor) Regalado said. “We don’t need this kind of drama in Miami.” (my emphasis)

This kindly young man, who wants to thank his relatives for taking care of him when he was a child refugee--though he thinks they were wrong in trying to keep him--is going to cause riots in Miami? Whose fault would that be? Some Miamians are fascist nutballs on Cuban issues. They would stop at NOTHING--bombing planes full of people, bombing hotels, shooting, killing, torturing, bullying, threatening and humiliating anyone who disagrees with them, not to mention their corruption of our government, their fascist influence in Washington, their living off the taxpayers with subsidies and CIA protections. THEY riot again, and ELIAN is responsible?

“We don’t need this kind of drama in Miami.” Well, disempower the fascist Miami mafia, you hypocrite! That would eliminate a whole lot of bad drama in Florida and the USA!

Cuba Confidential: Love and Vengeance in Miami and Havana
By Ann Louise Bardach

would give people a very quick overview of how things really go in that town. This journalist, Ann Louise Bardach, was the award-winning reporter who did a series on an interview with Luis Posada Carriles, one of the masterminds, with Orlando Bosch, of the mid-air bombing of the Cubana air liner, which snuffed out the lives of the entire Cuban fencing team, coming back from a win, some of them still legally children.

I was looking for something which would refer to the FBI's naming Miami as "America's murder capital" when I came across this sampling of her book, for which she made innumerable trips between Florida and Cuba for research. It can go back or forward, in this link, and it's all interesting. Unfortunately, some of the words are jumbled, and several pages were removed to prevent copyright impingements, but it's still very easy to get the overall picture of how Miami has been running since the invasion of the gusanos (worms) from Cuba:

https://books.google.com/books?id=FxdhDFlNxYcC&pg=PA116&lpg=PA116&dq=miami++murder+capital+of+the+united+states+fbi&source=bl&ots=8LYC3PgBHX&sig=HlsDpLJqKVi7C1AlX70o9ajiS70&hl=en&sa=X&ei=iUFeVYSGI4OpNuKLgKAN&ved=0CEkQ6AEwBjgK#v=onepage&q=miami%20%20murder%20capital%20of%20the%20united%20states%20fbi&f=false

of this thread by DU'er Mika.

His excerpt was taken from a source which only included the violence up until a cut-off date, and there has been far, far more since then. It's enough to give you an outstanding idea of how much violence the Batistianos really can go for!

Mika Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Thu Jun-15-06 08:52 AM
Response to Reply #5

28. Bombings in Miami - a short list


Edited on Thu Jun-15-06 08:54 AM by Mika

This is just a short list of many Miamicuban radical anti Castro exile terrorist bombings in Miami.

The Miami-Dade organized crime bureau has many many more terrorist exile bombings on their listings.


The Burden of a Violent History
http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/mullin-6367332

The following list of violent incidents I compiled from a variety of databases and news sources (a few come from personal experience). It is incomplete, especially in Miami's trademark category of bomb threats. Nor does it include dozens of acts of violence and murder committed by Cuban exiles in other U.S. cities and at least sixteen foreign countries. But completeness isn't the point. The point is to face the truth, no matter how difficult that may be. If Miami's Cuban exiles confront this shameful past -- and resolutely disavow it -- they will go a long way toward easing their neighbors' anxiety about a peaceful future.

1968 From MacArthur Causeway, pediatrician Orlando Bosch fires bazooka at a Polish freighter. (City of Miami later declares "Orlando Bosch Day." Federal agents will jail him in 1988.)

1972 Julio Iglesias, performing at a local nightclub, says he wouldn't mind "singing in front of Cubans." Audience erupts in anger. Singer requires police escort. Most radio stations drop Iglesias from playlists. One that doesn't, Radio Alegre, receives bomb threats.

1974 Exile leader José Elias de la Torriente murdered in his Coral Gables home after failing to carry out a planned invasion of Cuba.

1974 Bomb blast guts the office of Spanish-language magazine Replica.

1974 Several small Cuban businesses, citing threats, stop selling Replica.

1974 Three bombs explode near a Spanish-language radio station.

1974 Hector Diaz Limonta and Arturo Rodriguez Vives murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1975 Luciano Nieves murdered after advocating peaceful coexistence with Cuba.

1975 Another bomb damages Replica's office.

1976 Rolando Masferrer and Ramon Donestevez murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1976 Car bomb blows off legs of WQBA-AM news director Emilio Milian after he publicly condemns exile violence.

1977 Juan José Peruyero murdered in internecine exile power struggles.

1979 Cuban film Memories of Underdevelopment interrupted by gunfire and physical violence instigated by two exile groups.

1979 Bomb discovered at Padron Cigars, whose owner helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1979 Bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1980 Powerful anti-personnel bomb discovered at American Airways Charter, which arranges flights to Cuba.

1981 Bomb explodes at Mexican Consulate on Brickell Avenue in protest of relations with Cuba.

1981 Replica's office again damaged by a bomb.

1982 Two outlets of Hispania Interamericana, which ships medicine to Cuba, attacked by gunfire.

1982 Bomb explodes at Venezuelan Consulate in downtown Miami in protest of relations with Cuba.

1982 Bomb discovered at Nicaraguan Consulate.

1982 Miami Mayor Maurice Ferre defends $10,000 grant to exile commando group Alpha 66 by noting that the organization "has never been accused of terrorist activities inside the United States."

1983 Another bomb discovered at Replica.

1983 Another bomb explodes at Padron Cigars.

1983 Bomb explodes at Paradise International, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1983 Bomb explodes at Little Havana office of Continental National Bank, one of whose executives, Bernardo Benes, helped negotiate release of 3600 Cuban political prisoners.

1983 Miami City Commissioner Demetrio Perez seeks to honor exile terrorist Juan Felipe de la Cruz, accidentally killed while assembling a bomb. (Perez is now a member of the Miami-Dade County Public School Board and owner of the Lincoln-Martí private school where Elian Gonzalez is enrolled.)

1983 Gunfire shatters windows of three Little Havana businesses linked to Cuba.

1986 South Florida Peace Coalition members physically attacked in downtown Miami while demonstrating against Nicaraguan contra war.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cuba Envios, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes at Cubanacan, which ships packages to Cuba.

1987 Car belonging to Bay of Pigs veteran is firebombed.

1987 Bomb explodes at Machi Viajes a Cuba, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1987 Bomb explodes outside Va Cuba, which ships packages to Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes at Miami Cuba, which ships medical supplies to Cuba.

1988 Bomb threat against Iberia Airlines in protest of Spain's relations with Cuba.

1988 Bomb explodes outside Cuban Museum of Art and Culture after auction of paintings by Cuban artists.

1988 Bomb explodes outside home of Maria Cristina Herrera, organizer of a conference on U.S.-Cuba relations.

1988 Bomb threat against WQBA-AM after commentator denounces Herrera bombing.

1988 Bomb threat at local office of Immigration and Naturalization Service in protest of terrorist Orlando Bosch being jailed.

1988 Bomb explodes near home of Griselda Hidalgo, advocate of unrestricted travel to Cuba.

1988 Bomb damages Bele Cuba Express, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Another bomb discovered at Almacen El Español, which ships packages to Cuba.

1989 Two bombs explode at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1990 Another, more powerful, bomb explodes outside the Cuban Museum of Art and Culture.

1991 Using crowbars and hammers, exile crowd rips out and urinates on Calle Ocho "Walk of Fame" star of Mexican actress Veronica Castro, who had visited Cuba.

1992 Union Radio employee beaten and station vandalized by exiles looking for Francisco Aruca, who advocates an end to U.S. embargo.

1992 Cuban American National Foundation mounts campaign against the Miami Herald, whose executives then receive death threats and whose newsracks are defaced and smeared with feces.

1992 Americas Watch releases report stating that hard-line Miami exiles have created an environment in which "moderation can be a dangerous position."

1993 Inflamed by Radio Mambí commentator Armando Perez-Roura, Cuban exiles physically assault demonstrators lawfully protesting against U.S. embargo. Two police officers injured, sixteen arrests made. Miami City Commissioner Miriam Alonso then seeks to silence anti-embargo demonstrators: "We have to look at the legalities of whether the City of Miami can prevent them from expressing themselves."

1994 Human Rights Watch/Americas Group issues report stating that Miami exiles do not tolerate dissident opinions, that Spanish-language radio promotes aggression, and that local government leaders refuse to denounce acts of intimidation.

1994 Two firebombs explode at Replica magazine's office.

1994 Bomb threat to law office of Magda Montiel Davis following her videotaped exchange with Fidel Castro.

1996 Music promoter receives threatening calls, cancels local appearance of Cuba's La Orquesta Aragon.

1996 Patrons attending concert by Cuban jazz pianist Gonzalo Rubalcaba physically assaulted by 200 exile protesters. Transportation for exiles arranged by Dade County Commissioner Javier Souto.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Little Havana's Centro Vasco restaurant preceding concert by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes.

1996 Firebomb explodes at Marazul Charters, which arranges travel to Cuba.

1996 Arson committed at Tu Familia Shipping, which ships packages to Cuba.

1997 Bomb threats, death threats received by radio station WRTO-FM following its short-lived decision to include in its playlist songs by Cuban musicians.

1998 Bomb threat empties concert hall at MIDEM music conference during performance by 91-year-old Cuban musician Compay Segundo.

1998 Bomb threat received by Amnesia nightclub in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban musician Orlando "Maraca" Valle.

1998 Firebomb explodes at Amnesia nightclub preceding performance by Cuban singer Manolín.

1999 Violent protest at Miami Arena performance of Cuban band Los Van Van leaves one person injured, eleven arrested.

1999 Bomb threat received by Seville Hotel in Miami Beach preceding performance by Cuban singer Rosita Fornes. Hotel cancels concert.

More:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2339358

It's a terrific thread, lots of information regarding the original wave of Miami Mafia who stomped onto Miami's shores, or arrived at the airport after the revolution.