> Elian is, no doubt, a trophy for the Democratic Party and for
> Castro.
Just as he was a trophy for the Miami Gang of fanatical
anti-Castro-ites...
> Apparently, the Cuban government wants to pay homage to its pagan
> gods for its custody of little Elian.
>
> Yesterday Elian, his family and an entourage of Cuban officials
> were escorted to the Silver Spring, Md., home of a
> Cuban-American.
>
> The next-door neighbor forwarded NewsMax.com pictures of the
> event. The neighbor insists the Gonzalez party was participating
> in Santeria activities.
When Elian was in the clutches of the Miami Gang, news reports showed
many supporters also worshipping Santerian 'gods'....and showed them
claiming that Elian represented one of their gods...
So it seems that no one camp has a monopoly on the practicing of this
religion...
> Santeria is an Afro-Cuban religion in which animal sacrifices are
> performed regularly to help the practitioner succeed in his
> endeavors.
The same thing can be said of Voodoun, Yoruba, and many other pagan
religions with African roots...
So what's the point?
> It has long being rumored that Castro and his thugs are involved
> in these practices that some refer to as voodoo.
Santeria is not 'voodoo'. The word 'voodoo' is a corruption of the
word 'Voodoun', a separate religion.
The writer has obviously watched too many Hollywood movies, which
mistakenly combine practices of Voodoun, Santeria, Yoruba, and the
other Caribbean and South American pagan religions, in a
melodramatic -- and factually inaccurate -- depiction designed to sell
tickets.
> Another NewsMax.com reader also witnessed the Santeria conclave
> yesterday and reported, "Based on what I saw and heard, I believe
> the information provided by the next-door neighbor with respect
> to Santeria activity is reliable."
Interesting that they also don't mention the neighbor across the street
from the Miami Gonzalez's -- one of their supporters -- who turned her
front porch into a Santerian alter, which many of the thousands of
loiterers on the street outside dutifully made offerings to...
No animal sacrifices were SHOWN, but since, as has been pointed out
above, it IS an integral part of the religion, one would expect the
supporters of the Miami Gang also made such sacrifices.
Again, what's the point the writer is trying to make?
> He continued: "I can tell you that the sound of the drums was
> deafening at times, and that Juan Miguel was drinking heavily.
Gee...this 'neighbor' seems to have a strange ability to see into
someone else's house.
> The neighbor also pointed out a Santeria relic visible through
> the window of the house. All this activity took place under the
> noses of the U.S. Marshals Service and INS agents.
And why not? Why do you imply the U.S. Marshall (learn to spell it
correctly) Service has a right to interfere with the LEGAL practice of
this religion?
> Perhaps it’s time to call an exorcist.
Why? Do you feel that all non-Christian religions worship the
Christian devil?
> A NewsMax.com reader lives next door and took photos
Why? To sell to the highest bidder?
> While most of the kids played in the backyard of the house, Elian
> was not allowed to be in the backyard for anymore than a few
> minutes at a time.
How does the neighbor, admittedly peeking thru his bedroom curtains
nextdoor, 'know' that Elian 'was not allowed' to be in the backyard
'for anymore [sic] than a few minutes at a time'...?
Was this Peeping Tom able to see ALL of the backyard? Was he able to
see inside? Perhaps there was a Sega game Elian didn't want to
leave....
The picture shows absolutely nothing. Elian is not in this picture.
We don't know if he is to the right, behind the bushes in the far
corner of the yard. We don't know if perhaps he is behind the bushes
in the center of the picture, between the bushes and the shed. Perhaps
he is playing with some other children in the shed. Perhaps he is
behind the group of people under the tent. Perhaps he is in the
sideyard on the other side of the house. Perhaps he is in the sideyard
to the left of the photographer.
And yes, perhaps he IS in the house. But the picture doesn't prove he
was 'kept' in the house. He may have been inside momentarily to use
the bathroom. Or to get a glass of lemonade. Perhaps he got dirty and
needed to have his clothes changed.
Perhaps the day was very hot, and he preferred to stay in the
presumably air-conditioned house and watch cartoons.
And perhaps it was noticed the nextdoor neighbor was taking pictures,
so Elian was brought back inside.
>"Even though he tried to get out several times, he was prevented
>from so doing.
The picture doesn't show this. It shows a little boy running. Little
boys do this all the time.
It doesn't show anyone chasing him. It doesn't show anyone restraining
him.
It looks very much like Elian is doing exactly what Elian wishes to do.
> It is a Santeria Deity, plain and simple. It used to be located
> by the main entrance of the house on the steps leading to the
> front door. Some have said that it is an effigy representing
> Eleggua, the opener of the roads in the Santeria pantheon of
> deities.
And so? The point?
Is this any different than any number of Gothic gargoyles one finds as
decorations in any city?
In fact, it DOES look like any number of Gothic gargoyles one can buy
in any lawn and garden center in the U.S., and nothing like any
Santerian figure I've seen, who are usually depicted looking very much
like Catholic saints.
And has anyone else noticed that this 'nextdoor neighbor', who
supposedly had to surreptiously shoot these photos through a bedroom
curtain unseen by the subjects of his photos, seems to have amazingly
been able to take these photos from a wide variety of angles, some of
which seemingly could only have been taken by someone actually standing
in the yard where the party was taking place?
> "Here is the balance of the photos taken from a bedroom window of
> my sister's house. Some include the Cuban Diplomatic Hierarchy,
This bedroom has to be huge, to achieve this camera angle. Compare it
to the photo at the beginning that doesn't have Elian in it -- that
photo is taken from the perspective of the sideyard, aiming into the
backyard. But the photo referred to above is obviously taken by
someone standing in the backyard (compare the location of the blue
tent)...perhaps the backyard nextdoor, with the help of a telephoto
lens...but obviously NOT from the inside of a house, if one presumes
the house nextdoor is basically the same size as the house where the
party was held.
If, on a very long chance, the nextdoor neighbor remodeled and expanded
their house well into the backyard, again this "sister's bedroom" would
need to run the whole length of the supposed addition...
No...these photos are NOT what they are purported to be...
> A group with Elian,
Looks like any normal backyard barbecue to me. Elian definitely
doesn't look like he is being restrained.
> His wife and Elian's baby half-brother.
If no photo proved my allegation that these pictures are NOT what they
purport to be (secretly snapped thru the curtains of a sister's bedroom
nextdoor), this one does it. It is aimed squarely at the back door of
the house where the party was held. The previous pictures have shown
us a fence separating this house and the house where the photos were
supposedly shot. The only way for the picture above to have been taken
would be for the photographer to have been standing in the middle of
the backyard where the party was held, aiming his camera at the
backdoor...
Doesn't fit the description of someone peeking thru the bedroom
curtains nextdoor and secretly snapping pix...
> He was never let more than two steps away from his 'watchers'.
And yet we've been presented with pictures before this point that don't
show any 'watchers' (who look like security guards) at all...
> "The house where this affair took place is a private residence
> owned by a Cuban American, not a diplomat. Notice in this photo,
> he is kneeling while holding something in his hands.
First off, the angle of this photo shows that it had to have been taken
from the back porch where the party was held -- again proof that these
pix can't be the result of someone peeking thru a bedroom next door.
Secondly, all I see in the above photo is someone who seems to be
throwing something away in a garbage bag...
> "The area directly in front of him is the area where the Bata
> drummer(s) and musicians were located and chanting Santeria
> Yoruban Music also known in Cuba as 'Toque de Santo'.
Yet there are no photos showing these musicians. Strange, considering
all the other photos alleging to 'prove' something...
And even if the musicians were there, so what? That a person is
kneeling in this picture doesn't show anything other than someone
kneeling. Lots of people kneel for many reasons.
And if the implication is that someone is 'worshipping', again, so
what? It's no different than Catholics putting up statues of the
Virgin Mary in their yard and saying a few "Hail Marys" when they pass
it...
> Whatever happened to the happy, carefree smiling kid we became so
used to
He looked pretty happy and carefree in these pictures...
June
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