González is the great-uncle of six-year-old Cuban child Elián González, who was found at sea last November and, instead of being returned to Cuba, was turned over by U.S. authorities to distant relatives here. Underlying this dispute is the U.S. rulers' hostility toward the Cuban revolution and their refusal to establish normal diplomatic relations with Havana. These events, created by Washington, culminated with the April 22 raid in which the child was seized by heavily armed Immigration and Naturalization Service cops under the orders of U.S. attorney general Janet Reno.

The majority in U.S. ruling circles has supported the Clinton administration's assault in Miami, including the strengthening of executive power and the attacks on democratic rights that it represents, as well as the fostering of anti-Cuban prejudice to achieve these goals.

A few thousand people demonstrated in South Dade County May 6 in support of the U.S. government's police raid on the González home. The protesters lined the side of U.S. Route 1 as a caravan of cars and pickup trucks led by tractors drove by, many with Confederate flags. A number of the participants were Black. The rally was held near a Black community.

The demonstrators held signs reading "Fly the American flag here, fly the communist Cuban flag in Cuba," "Free inner-tube ride back to Cuba," and "Why don't they burn Castro's flag?" They were referring to the fact that some Cuban-American protesters burned the U.S. flag at the previous week's protest against the INS raid.

Other signs that reflected the rightist character of the demonstration declared, "One country, one flag, one language," "It's better to die fighting for your country then to die floating from your country," and "Thank you, Janet Reno, God Bless the INS."  
 
Anti-Carollo, pro-Reno action
Fifteen miles north on the same road, a group called Citizens for a Better Miami organized a rally of about 200 people. Organizers said they were for cultural diversity and free speech. At this protest, the Confederate flag was not welcomed. But one of the protesters, Maurice, told this reporter that he had Confederate flags in his car and that many of his T-shirts depicted a Confederate flag.

Many Cuban-Americans who wanted the Cuban child to stay in Miami and who support Miami mayor Joseph Carollo didn't agree with this protest and expressed open hostility from their cars.

Not everyone at this second demonstration was there for the same reasons. The main chant was "USA, USA" and one sign read, "Hitler + Castro = Carollo." Another large yellow banner read, "Miami, a Banana Republic."

But others carried signs supporting an end to the U.S. embargo of Cuba. Many of the demonstrators were Cuban-Americans who support normalizing diplomatic relations with Cuba. Francisco Aruca, a well-known radio commentator and businessman, urged his listeners to participate in the protest. Aruca opposes the U.S. embargo of Cuba as an opponent of the Cuban revolution.

Supporters of the Cuban revolution who attended the action expressed the view that the people present could help get rid of Carollo and Cuban-American right-wingers in the local government. Their argument was, "When the government does something right, you have to let them know," referring to the INS operation to seize the child.

Alfredo Neuman, a Colombian who came to check out the rally, said, "I had mixed feelings coming here. On one hand, I wanted to demonstrate my happiness that Elián is with his father, but when I arrived here I felt that I was cheering what is happening in Vieques too," referring to the eviction of anti-Navy protesters on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques by U.S. cops and marines just a few days after the raid in Miami.

The U.S. Marine flag was flying along with the U.S. flag on a pole in the middle of the protest.

Several other signs read, "Janet, we love you and respect you," "End the Cuban Adjustment Act," and "Immigration control."

Another protest took place on May 7 supporting ex-police chief William O'Brien and former city manager Donald Warshaw, for their participation in the INS raid and their opposition to Carollo.

The Miami mayor fired Warshaw for refusing to fire police chief O'Brien when he refused to inform the mayor ahead of time about the INS raid. O'Brien then resigned, and the fired city manager appointed Raúl Martínez, a police officer who is Cuban-American, to replace him.  
 
Crisis in city administration
Carollo then designated a new city manager, Carlos Giménez, also Cuban-American. A circuit court lifted a restraining order May 9, allowing Carollo to fire Warshaw. Giménez praised the new chief of police.

These recent moves have only isolated Carollo's administration more.

The Socialist Workers candidate for County Commission, Rachele Fruit, expressed the view in discussions with opponents of the U.S. embargo of Cuba that it did not advance that fight to participate in these reactionary protests.

"Rather than praising William Clinton and Janet Reno for Elián González's return to his father," Fruit said, "we must denounce them for their refusal to return the child to Cuba from the beginning. It's the tenacity of the Cuban people that is responsible for the fact that his return to Cuba is approaching."

Rollande Girard is a sewing machine operator in Miami.  
 
 
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