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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: lawdog who wrote (1323)	4/20/2000 7:31:00 AM
From: opalapril	Read Replies (4) \| Respond to of 9127

"To the Exiles it's about screwing Castro." Actually, I think it's more complicated -- and revolting -- than that. The Cuban exile community in Florida includes a number of leaders who have attained great wealth and power. They are, however, trapped in a conundrum. On one hand, a sine quo non for their "legitmacy" within the exile community is perceived fealty to anti-Castro dogma and the expressed aspiration of eventual return to Cuba. On the other hand, the exile leaders know that when that day comes, it will be a dark one for them, not a triumph. They (and most other exiles) will not enjoy the same wealth, power, and influence in Cuba they had (or imagine they had) under the criminal Batista. That struggle already has been lost to the Cuban entrepreneurs and Castro supporters who now work so closely with European, South American, and Asian businesses and governments. Worse, the very source of their power within the Florida exile community will quickly erode. Hence, ironically, for the exile community leaders the best of all worlds is to have Castro remain in power so they can continue drawing legitimacy (and wealth and power) in Florida from leading the opposition to him. Thus, Elian is less a pawn in international power politics than a victim of internal power-mongering within the Florida exile community itself. Exile leaders have seized on him strictly as a tool for retaining or enhancing their own power within the exile community. If, in the bargain, the flap also delays eventual US-Cuban rapproachment, so much the better for them. I'm sure someone famous has said something far more quotable, but at the root of all this as it seems to me is this cynical truth: I need my enemy to prosper so I can lead my friends against him.