Another Elian Gonzalez?

By Rick Moran

Ed Morrissey is reporting the case of a little Cuban girl whose family situation echoes that of another Cuban child who was taken by force and returned to Castro's island prison; Elian Gonzalez.

In this case, the mother is unable to care for the child who was then placed with foster parents. Wanting to adopt the child, the foster parents can not get approval from the girl's father who still resides in Cuba.

Izquierdo said he wants to take his daughter back to his family home in the central Cuban village of Cabaiguan, where he and his wife have a 7-year-old daughter. "Her room is ready with and her bed and her little toys," he said Thursday.

Perez (the mother) agrees. "Now that she's not going to her mother, she should go to her father," she said of her daughter. "Those are the two best people in the world to be at the side of a child.

An independent guardian appointed for the girl favors leaving her girl with Cubas. Several top attorneys for the Florida Department of Children & Families also appear to favor Cubas.

The girl has also has a brother who already lives with the Cubas, a wealthy family whose father Joe is a sports agent who has handled several Cuban athletes who defected. The girl's father has already agreed to allow the adoption of his son but not the still unnamed daughter.

It remains to be seen whether the passionate community of Cuban refugees and immigrants whose advocacy for Elian Gonalez affected not only south Florida but American politics back in 2000 will take up the case of the little girl and make it into a cause similar to Elian's. But the circumstances are different this time and it may be that this case will be settled quietly and without the clamor and fuss associated with the Elian Gonzalez affair.