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There is no such thing as a father in Cuba, and to not know that makes you unqualified to comment about this event and Cuban issues. Here is Senate Judiciary testimony from the son of the most famous person in Cuba (after Castro):

“I speak as a refugee and as a product of the Castro regime. I was born in it and it was all I knew until I defected 6 years ago.

The testimony I am about to give comes from the core of the Cuban experience, something so far from what it is like in the rest of the world that perhaps the best way to understand it would be to consider me a witness from inner space.

As a Cuban, it has been painful and horrifying to watch the unfolding events in the life of Elian Gonzalez, painful because his story is the quintessential representation of the tragedy that is Cuba. By that I mean that all of us, those still in Cuba and those who live in freedom outside, have a visceral understanding of the breadth and depth of this child’s situation.

What I would like you to know about Cuba is that the very air we breathe is polluted with the smell of fear. It is a fear so strong that it makes the soul cringe. All of us are mentally and emotionally deformed by this cringing and it takes years of being out of Cuba to establish a sense of personal integrity and moral balance.

What has been horrifying about watching this story is to see the blatant manipulation of the truth and grotesque deception of the American public by their own news media. The reporting of this story has been so uninformed and biased that it cannot even be called a lie. I would have to call it a continuation of a concerted campaign of disinformation, the only achievement of the Castro regime in its 41 years in power. The first victory in the Castro regime in this case has been to make the central issue one of paternal rights. Of course, if these events occurred in relation to almost any other country in the world, it would be appropriate. But in Cuba, it is not. Parents in Cuba have no rights because these rights do not exist.

I am the son of the most famous celebrity in Cuba, a bandleader who has maintained his popularity in Cuba for over 30 years. The Rolling Stones might be a good comparison. Not only is he the most famous person in Cuba, he is also known throughout the world as the most important figure of contemporary Cuba. Yet, when I found I could not offer mindless obedience to the system— I regret to say that I was not even close to being outspoken or a dissident; I simply wanted to practice yoga and play Cuban music in my own way—I was punished. And my father, despite his popularity, was unable to help me. The government threatened not only me, but let me know that my meditation and pursuit of individualism could affect him. State security developed a file on me that made it impossible for me to get an exit visa from my own country, which meant that my life as a musician was impeded because without permission to travel, you can not enter any musical band whose revenues depend on touring. And without government authorization, you cannot start your own band.

My future was taken away from me, but worse things have happened.The parents of classmates who were practicing Christians were unable to intervene when their children were barred from scholastic advancement as a result of their beliefs. Nor could they intervene when their children were mocked and humiliated by their teachers in school.

The second victory of Castro’s campaign has been to portray the conflict over Elian as one having to do with family values versus crass materialism. Americans seem to think that everyone in Cuba is poor but honest, whereas this country is riddled with an overabundance of material goods. I must tell you that when I left Cuba, I left behind not only all the comfort I had ever known, but also the possibility of a life of great material ease. My younger brother, who was in my father’s band, drives a Mercedes and lives in an exclusive residential district of Havana. I have been offered since being here the possibility to return and live that life, but I choose to stay here, where I still do not speak the language and where I first had to sing in the subway and where I am still struggling to survive as an artist and as a person. I am still adjusting to freedom, which I will cherish even if I am poor all of my life.The most terrible thing to have happened in Cuba is the elimination of hope for its people. Let me tell you what are the choices of Cuba’s children. The first choice is unthinking obedience. This means substituting the regime’s agenda for one’s own personal conscience. Aside from that, there are three other paths: to be an oppressor, which is the only way to rise in the system; to be a criminal, which is the only way to survive in the system; or to be a victim, which is the only way to have a conscience in the system. The issue here is not whether we should give Elian Gonzalez more opportunities of career choices here or whether in Cuba he will be a poor farmer or an esteemed surgeon. It has nothing to do with that. It is whether he will be able to have the same right of personal autonomy that you sitting here take for granted or whether he will have to adapt his life to a dictatorship.

Finally, there is the most important aspect of this case—one that has been overlooked completely. It explains why the determination of Elian’s future is the most important event in contemporary Cuban history—because it will affect Cuban history in the future. The soul of the Cuban people is represented and personified by its patron saints—Our Lady of Charity and her sister, Our Lady of Regla. Both are manifestations of the Virgin Mary, with the former ruling over fresh water and the latter ruling the sea. More folk legend than religious doctrine, their influence has survived the destruction of established religion in Cuba. All those saved at sea are viewed by the Cuban people as specially blessed—and are referred to as ‘‘Yemaya Olorddo” —a title that comes from our African heritage. This image, of the Holy Mother, suspended over the sea with a child in her arms is the central icon of the Cuban identity. There is no one in Cuba who does not share a deep reverence for this.

Fidel Castro’s hysterical insistence on the return of this child is based on his knowledge of this icon, and his cruelly subtle ability to manipulate the Cuban people. It is a tremendous irony that Castro is admired by many as a figure of what is thought of as my progress, when in reality he runs his country with the use of witchcraft and superstition. If you, as rational people, find this idea hard to accept, I refer you to the Book of Matthew, chapter 2, verses 1 through 8, when Herod tells the three kings to bring the child to him after they have found him. As rational people, members of this committee might find this absurd, but it is not absurd to the Cuban people. Castro himself has publicly and before cameras referred to Elian as ‘‘Baby Jesus.’’ In his mind, and in his appearance before the Cuban people, the future of his regime rests on regaining this child. For all those ere who say ‘‘A child should not be a symbol, let him lead a normal life,’’ what kind of normal life awaits him as the heir apparent of Fidel Castro?

Thank you very much.”

The CHAIRMAN. Thank you so much.

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