The vast majority of Americans, including leading media stars, are unaware of the numerous provisions of the 1978 Cuban Constitution that give the state total control over the lives of Cuban children. According to that charter, all children are to be fully indoctrinated in Communist precepts, and all their relatives and friends are required to inform state officials of any sign of skepticism or rebelliousness. Schools are an integral part of the indoctrination of the nation s young, and classrooms are often used for such games as telling the children to close their eyes and pray to God for candy. When they open their eyes and there is no candy on the desks, they are told to close their eyes again and pray instead to Fidel. Candy then appears on their desks to teach the children that God does not deliver, but Fidel does.
All Cuban children are liable for work in the fields at age eleven.
Any act against socialism is punishable by law, and indeed in recent months a Cuban father was imprisoned for distributing toys to poor children. Another went to jail for preventing his child from joining the Young Communist Pioneers. Thus, discussions about father s rights, like so many others about totalitarian societies, need to be put in an entirely different context. Words like family and parents do not have the same meanings that they do in free societies. In Cuba, no biological father can challenge the will of Castro, and indeed Castro has already announced that, should Elian be sent to Cuba, he will not go to his home but rather to a hospital where he will be deprogrammed.