Word: castro
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There were surely many emotions in the heart of Elizabet Brotons Rodriguez when she bundled Elian into a crowded 17-ft. aluminum skiff in the predawn hours of Sunday, Nov. 21. High among them must have been hope. In the 40 years since Fidel Castro came to power, tens of thousands of Cubans have taken a fateful step to a better life in just the same way: from shore to boat, with hopes of a quick and easy landfall. And 1999 was a particularly popular year for the trip. The Coast Guard picked up more than 1,300 rafters, more...
...Cuba met with Elian's father Juan Miguel at his Cardenas home (without Cuban officials present). They met again on New Year's Eve in the Havana home of a United Nations diplomat. The latter location was deliberate: U.S. officials were worried that Juan Miguel might be manipulated by Castro and wanted a location that was unlikely to be bugged. The goal of the inquisition was to determine just how close father and son really were. Elian's family in Miami had told investigators that Juan Miguel was, at best, an indifferent father. So the U.S. investigators unpacked...
...shall be, U.S. officials ruled. They had hoped Juan Miguel would come to Miami to pick Elian up, but the father insists that returning Elian is the obligation of U.S. officials. Castro, who has used the incident to whip up anti-U.S. feelings at home, barred Juan Miguel from making the trip, probably fearful of a defection. "This is a case of common sense," said Ricardo Alarcon, the president of Cuba's National Assembly. "This boy has to be returned here as soon as possible." The INS is committed to having...
While the families said they were fighting only over what was best for Elian, everyone else was really sparring about U.S. relations with its longtime nemesis in Havana. In the past year Washington has edged steadily toward warmer ties to Castro's Cuba--which not all are happy about...
...paper the changes are minor, such as allowing more people-to-people contacts. But at the State Department, in the business community and even in Congress, sentiment is growing to abandon the 40-year-old embargo that has failed to dislodge Castro. Farmers, businessmen and tourists are clamoring for greater access to the island, as other countries usurp a natural U.S. market. In a TIME/CNN poll last week, 53% of Americans surveyed said the U.S. should open diplomatic relations with Cuba...