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

To: Dayuhan who wrote (5982)	5/22/2000 11:50:00 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 9127

Interesting article... Accuracy In Media aim.org CASTRO THE CRIMINAL By Reed Irvine May 5, 2000 ---------------------------------------------------------- The media coverage of the Elian Gonzalez case probably made nearly everyone unhappy. Those who opposed the Clinton administration's efforts to transfer custody of the boy to his father and return him to Cuba generally thought the media were on the government's side. Those who wanted the boy sent back to Cuba even before his father showed up to claim him, generally believed that the coverage was excessive and that it fueled the opposition to what they thought was best for the child and for the country. There is no question but that any child would be far better off growing up in the United States than in Cuba, or in many other countries in the world. This is not just a matter of the high living standards and better career opportunities this country offers. It is a matter of kids not being brainwashed by Communist teachers and having to live in a country where they have no freedom of speech, press, religion, privacy, association and travel. One of the great flaws in the media coverage of the Elian case was the failure to use this as an opportunity to better inform Americans about the Stalinist dictatorship 90 miles off our coast. Castro has enjoyed a remarkably good press in this country for a tyrant with such an abysmal record of failure. He has failed in everything except hanging on to power for 41 years without ever daring to allow his miserable subjects to vote for or against him. For over a year our media carried numerous stories about a Spanish effort to prosecute former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet, for alleged crimes against humanity, murder and genocide. Pinochet, who when arrested was 83 years old and in poor health, was being hounded for leading a military coup in 1972 that saved Chile from an emerging Communist dictatorship backed by Castro. It was a coup that had the sanction of Chile's parliament, which was alarmed by the illegal enhancement of the power of Salvador Allende, the Socialist president who had won a three-way race for president with 37 percent of the vote. But it was not bloodless. Allende committed suicide and some 3,000 of his supporters were killed. Overthrowing Allende was important, but Gen. Pinochet's legacy is far greater than that. Under his presidency, Chile was transformed from a socialist state perpetually burdened with hyper-inflation to a thriving free-market economy with high growth, low inflation and a stable currency. It has become a model for other countries in South America and elsewhere. During his 20 years as president of Chile, Pinochet submitted to two plebiscites to determine if the voters wanted him to continue in office. He won in January 1978 with 75 percent of the vote and was rejected in a second plebiscite in 1989. A contested election was then held in 1990, and the result was a peaceful transfer of power to a democratically elected leader, who was committed to continuing Pinochet's successful economic policies. Despite his stellar record, Pinochet is regularly referred to in our media as a dictator and a violator of human rights. He was arrested while on a visit to London in October, 1998, and held under house arrest for over a year on charges lodged by a Spanish prosecutor who wanted to see him punished for some of those 3,000 deaths in the 1972 coup. Castro, on the other hand, is called "president" by journalists like Dan Rather, never "dictator." He has sponsored subversion and terrorism throughout the world, including an attempt to assassinate Pinochet in 1986. Cuban scholar Armando Lago says that Castro is responsible for the deaths of over 118,000 Cubans, including political executions, extrajudicial killings, over 86,000 who died trying to escape by sea and 10,000 who died fighting in Angola. Ironically, Castro, the murderer, was in Spain when the arrest of Pinochet in London was announced. It was Castro, not Pinochet, that the Spanish judge should have had arrested. Our media overlooked a great opportunity to inform and remind Americans of Castro's crimes, not only his killings and support of subversion, but his crime of enslaving and impoverishing the Cuban people. They should have reminded America that Castro's air force on July 26, 1996, shot down two civilian, unarmed planes in international airspace, killing three Americans. The planes were part of the "Brothers to the Rescue" humanitarian campaign on behalf of refugees from Cuba. Frank Calzon points out that Attorney General Janet Reno has in her possession the evidence necessary to issue a murder indictment of the Cuban officials who authorized the shootdown, but she has so far refused, and the silence of our media is deafening.

To: Dayuhan who wrote (5982)	5/23/2000 8:43:00 AM
From: X Y Zebra	Respond to of 9127

Three of the four semifinalists were from Spain, which I thought might have got some attention in the Spanish speaking world. I am sure it does, I just have not been paying attention as I used to. Today, only the World Cup finals captures my undivided attention. One of the negatives of using too many foreign players in the "locals" teams can be that the quality of the national team will not be as high as the individual teams can reach. Perhaps the best example is Spain's national team. I remember well in the glory days of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Atletico de Madrid, Atletico de Bilbao and other great Spanish teams... They could never get a national team strong enough to go beyond the quarter finals in the world cup. To this day, such is the case. To my frustration... I can't believe that the French became world champions, (1998, current WC), before Spain did (will they ever reach that level ?). Only a few years ago, France would hardly qualify for the finals, let alone be a contender for the title.