By Philip P. Pan and Michael A. Fletcher
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, April 10, 2000; Page A02
The midday crowd had just begun arriving at the Arte Latino Beauty Salon
in Mount Pleasant yesterday when the casual conversation among the
hairdressers and their clients turned, as it has so often these past weeks,
to
little Elian Gonzalez.
"He should go back to Cuba with his father," said stylist Maria Sarabia,
59, who was born in Bolivia.
"No, he should stay! His mother died for him to be here. She made the
ultimate sacrifice!" cried a co-worker, Janira Soriano, 24, a Salvadoran
immigrant.
Customer Orlando Conde, 49, interrupted: "The boy should be with his
father. Family is more important than anything."
"It's like this all the time," said Eva Hernandez, 31, the salon's owner,
during a break in the debate. She believes Elian should remain here
because "this is a free country with opportunity for us all. If I died,
I'd want
my children to be raised here too."
In the barrios of Washington and other cities across the country, Latinos
are following the saga of Elian Gonzalez like a real-life soap opera, one
full
of political intrigue and family strife. They know all the characters--the
father Juan Miguel, the uncle Lazaro, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro looming
in the background--and they understand the plot all too well, particularly
how immigration can separate parent from child.
But the non-Cuban Hispanics are much more divided, and much less
passionate, about the issue, than are Cuban Americans, most of whom are
adamant that the 6-year-old should remain here rather than return to Cuba
with his father.
Among Hernandez's clients at the beauty salon, for example, opinion has
been running only slightly in favor of allowing Elian to stay. And although
tempers flare occasionally, Hernandez said the level of emotion doesn't
approach that among Cubans, either in the United States or Cuba.
The plight of the boy rescued from the sea on Thanksgiving Day has
dominated the front pages of Spanish-language newspapers in the United
States for weeks, as well as Spanish Internet sites and newscasts on
Univision and Telemundo. But except for Cuban Americans, it has not
sparked significant Latino political action.
"There's a lot more Latino interest in this story than Anglo interest,
because
Latinos can relate to the immigrant experience, the possibility of losing
a
parent, of a kid being left alone," said Fernando Guerra, director of the
Center for the Study of Los Angeles at Loyola Marymount University.
"But it's like a telenovela or soap opera. They're following it as a human
drama rather than a political drama. The interest hasn't translated into
strong political views."
Guerra said that explains why most Hispanic political leaders have
remained on the sidelines. "The attitude is, 'If it were up to me, send
the kid
home. But why alienate other members of the Hispanic coalition over an
issue my constituents don't really care that much about?' "
Neither the National Council of La Raza nor the Mexican American Legal
Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), two of the nation's most
prominent Hispanic advocacy groups, has taken a stand on the Elian affair.
Nor has the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Many Latino officials have
avoided questions on the subject altogether.
An exception has been Rep. Jose E. Serrano (D-N.Y.). After Vice
President Gore broke with the White House and endorsed a bill to grant
residency to Elian and his Cuban family, Serrano let loose on national
television with a remarkable attack, saying Gore had infuriated Hispanic
voters.
"I'm very bitter and angry about this," he said. "If he wants to pick up
support from the Latino community, the proper way to do it is to talk
about the family value of reuniting this father with his son. . . . Last
year,
[the U.S. government] threw out 150,000 people from Mexico, the
Dominican Republic, Colombia, Africa, and not one of those people got a
special bill."
A Miami Herald poll published yesterday showed a sharp divide in South
Florida over the Elian case, with more than 80 percent of Cuban
Americans saying the child should remain in the United States and a
similarly large share of whites and blacks saying the opposite. But
non-Cuban Latinos were almost evenly split.
Elsewhere in the nation, Hispanics are more likely to believe Elian should
be returned to his father, according to interviews with community leaders
and others. But few expect their elected representatives to pick a fight
with
the Cuban American leaders who have been allies on other issues.
Rep. Silvestre Reyes (D-Tex.), whose district includes El Paso and is
nearly 80 percent Hispanic, said his constituents "just aren't focused
on this
issue."
"This is not an all-consuming issue in the Latino community at large,"
said
Reyes, who favors returning Elian to his father. "This is only all-consuming
in the Cuban Latino community."
Raul Yzaguirre, president of La Raza, said many Latinos feel Elian should
be returned to his father, but his organization has chosen to remain silent.
"Cuban Americans have been traumatized by Fidel Castro in ways that
most of us don't understand," he said. "Even though we think they are
wrong on this . . . we are reluctant to alienate those who feel so strongly."
There has long been an undercurrent of tension between Cubans and other
Latino groups, partly because Cubans are more conservative and
Republican than other Latinos and partly because U.S. immigration policies
have favored Cubans, because they are refugees from a Communist
regime.
Cubans make up only about 5 percent of the nation's 31 million Hispanics,
but higher citizenship and voter registration rates--as well as their heavy
concentration in Miami--have earned them political power beyond their
numbers. Such clout helps explain why Cubans who reach U.S. soil are
generally granted residency, while other immigrants who arrive illegally
face
deportation.
The continuing commotion over Elian has only highlighted this disparity.
Yzaguirre said many Latinos are upset that thousands of children in
circumstances like Elian's, many of them from Mexico or Central America,
never get any attention. Instead, they are quietly detained or returned
home.
Washington attorney Jose Petierra, host of a national call-in show on
immigration law on Spanish-language radio, said his Central American
clients are "bemused" by the Elian case but also worried it will distract
Congress from acting on immigration bills that would help them and their
families.
"It's quite a common concern. I hear it again and again," he said.
But many Latino leaders are convinced they have nothing to gain by
stepping into the controversy--and much to lose. Immigration laws
favorable to Hispanics often prevail with the support of the Cuban
lobby--or as amendments to similar laws enacted first to help only Cuban
immigrants.
And preserving the tenuous Hispanic coalition can be difficult. Years ago,
the Congressional Hispanic Caucus informally agreed to avoid taking
stands on issues that members felt too strongly about, such as the U.S.
embargo of Cuba or Puerto Rican independence.
"We work closely with all the different sub-groups in the Latino
community," said Marisa Demeo, regional counsel for MALDEF.
"Certainly, we would not want to take a position that would be perceived
as opposing a group that is our partner in many of the other efforts we
are
involved in."
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