[14] in peace2
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daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (F. AuYeung)
Sat Dec 18 04:25:08 1999
Message-Id: <199912180924.EAA06482@home-on-the-dome.mit.edu>
To: peace2@MIT.EDU, alsmith@MIT.EDU
Date: Sat, 18 Dec 1999 04:24:59 -0500
From: "F. AuYeung" <auyeung@MIT.EDU>
------- Forwarded Message
Date: Fri, 17 Dec 1999 16:17:41 -0500
To: bnbrox@igc.org
From: bnbrox@igc.org (Bikes Not Bombs)
Subject: 12/20 Release =?iso-8859-1?Q?Eli=E1n?= =?iso-8859-1?Q?_?=
=?iso-8859-1?Q?Gonz=E1lez?= , to his father in Cuba
Hello Bikes Not Bombs list-people,
Nalda Vigezzi, one of our Board members, forwarded the following
information.
- -Arik Grier
>Informational Picket line to demand that the U.S. government return the
>six-year-old Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez, to his father in Cuba. at the Tip O=92Neil
>Federal Building near North Station.
>
>Monday, December 20th 4:30 to 6:30 PM
>
>July 26 Coalition of Boston. (781) 395-0656 july26@world.std.com
>
>_________________________________________________________
>
>We are on a campaign to help mobilize public opinion to demand that the U.S=
.
>government return the six-year-old Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez, to his father in Cub=
a.
>
>We are asking that people call, fax, or e-mail the State Department Cuba
>desk and your congressional representative with this demand.
>
>We are also planning a Monday, December 20, informational picket at the Tip
>O=92Neil federal building near North Station between 4:30 and 6:30 pm. We
>encourage that not only that you be there, but that you help spread the wor=
d
>of this to anyone, any group, or church that you may have contact with.
>
>We note that this case has been getting quite a bit of media attention,
>including Fidel Castro being interviewed on the Today Show on Wednesday. Th=
e
>polls are showing that there is widespread knowledge of this case and about
>an even split on whether the boy should be returned to his father or not.
>
>The father is the closest living relative, and under all federal, state, an=
d
>international laws regarding custody, the boy should have been immediately
>returned to his father in Cuba.
>
>We think that politics are at the center of the delaying the return of this
>child.
>
>The U.S. government and the bulk of the media reports and editorials are
>trying lay responsibility on Cuba for the situation that leads to the
>illegal and dangerous attempts to reach the U.S., and therefor to the pligh=
t
>of Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez.
>
>State Department spokesman James Rubin stated December 6, =91When people ar=
e
>prepared to take the extraordinary risks and go around the safe, orderly,
>and legal process, it is a function of the terrible deprivations they live
>under in Cuba. The blame clearly lies squarely on Cuba's shoulders for
>creating the conditions and refusing to reform the country, and denying the
>human rights and economic conditions to these people.=92
>
>It's the U.S. government's policies, however, that encourage dangerous
>attempts to cross the Florida Straits by boat. Cubans who reach the United
>States by extralegal means are granted residency under the terms of the 196=
6
>Cuban Adjustment Act. At the same time, Washington tightly restricts visas
>for those who wish to move to the United States. In 1994 and 1995
>immigration accords with Havana, the U.S. government agreed to issue 20,000
>visas a year, but has failed to live up to this pledge according to Cuban
>government officials.
>
>A minority of Cubans have sought to get out from under the pressures of the
>economic crisis that is affecting not only Cuba but all of Latin America.
>Some decide to try to migrate to the United States without a visa in hopes
>of finding better economic conditions.
>
>The Cuban Adjustment Act, which promotes illegal emigration, is a flagrant
>violation of the migration agreements between both countries. There is no
>comparable legislation applying to any other country.
>
>In April of this year the Immigration and Naturalization Service sent out a
>bulletin that establishes that the Cuban Adjustment Act is applicable to an=
y
>Cuban, no matter in which way he or she reaches the U.S.
>
>It doesn't matter if the immigrant has gone through an immigration office,
>if he has a real or a fake passport, or if he enters the US territory
>clandestinely. The text of the bulletin also says that when a Cuban nationa=
l
>arrives in the U.S. territory he can also request an authorization to start
>to work at once.
>
>The U.S. should immediately return Eli=E1n Gonz=E1lez to his father in=
Cuba, end
>all application of the Cuban Adjustment Act, live up to the 1994 and 1995
>immigration accords.
>
>The only real answer to this is to normalize all relations with Cuba,
>respect its sovereignty, end the economic embargo, end the travel ban, and
>return the Guantanamo Naval Base to Cuba.
>
------- End of Forwarded Message
