Because the MSM in the USA are for the most part loony-left and kagastro sycophants and apologists.
And I guess the boy's father is living in "The Empire" and is not a kagasstro lover. Therefore, he and the boys are "politically inconsequential."

On that black day five years ago, as Elian’s plane was taking off from the Washington, D.C. area, I wrote a little eulogy of sorts. I called it “...but where is the lamb for the sacrifice?” recalling the Bible story of the sacrifice of Abraham. His son Isaac asks that question and then realizes that he is the sacrifice Abraham must make to Yahweh. Elian was sacrificed that day and many people changed their way of looking at the world; some for the better, some not. Let’s pray that Elian is doing well.

As for the Lazo kids, well... let's just say the MSM has the disease of selective blindness when it suits their cause (begin music: The Internationale).

Aren't them the Lazo boys?
Or boys whose father is in the States and not cutting cagastro any slack?
That's why.

Val, From what I can see the MSM has taking the issue to criticize the USA travel restrictions to Cuba (or I am missing something here)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6327065/

Roberto,

Exactly my point. Five years ago it was all about reuniting th echild with his father. today, its the same issue but the press, and Mr. lazo for that matter, prefer the usual and easy target, the US government, instead of the real culprit.

WHERE IS THE OUTRAGE? WHY CANT THESE BOYS GO SEE THEIR FATHER?

From someone who supported Elian being returned to his father (I know I'm on the minority here, let's not make this a debate about Elian), I do find hypocritical that there isn't more written about the Lazo boys and for that matter, the many children who are not let out of Cuba to reunite with their parents here.

But since I don't believe the "media" has any agenda (liberal or otherwise) other than to sell as much ad space as possible, this lack of interest it's just a result of the "tabloidization" of news reporting - if a story isn't sexy, it doesn't get ink. Sgt. Lazo can't travel to Cuba himself because of the Bush restrictions - that's an much more likely angle for the press to pursue. Because you can't expect rational, non-vindictive behavior from a tyrant, but you could certainly expect better from the US government.

Gansibele:

The Media is full of pseudo intelectuals and failed writers stright from the Universities. They really think they know what is good for you (even if you don't agree). The Media lost the Viet-Nam War and the current War is been fought with the media practically supporting the other side.

I am with Val, there is no outrage with the boys becuase the goal is to present USA as bad as possible. That way to often seems to be their mission. That is why in the case they work the father side of the issue.

Roberto

Let us not glance over this little gem
"the boy who survived a shipwreck"
You know? it gets to a point when you think they can NOT go any lower and GOD DAMN IT they find a way to do it.
I totally forgot the Elian anniversary, probably because I do not want to go back to THAT piece of Clinton/Reno sacrificial offering to the Maximum HP.

But.. Why we are even surprised the Lazo kids are not news in the USA?
1) Besides blogs and minor articles who knows about them?
2) What money is to be made by the “media” on this?
And at any rate .. this is a “touchy” subject for the MSM (thanks CB for letting me know what THAT meant) because it would mean confronting KaSStro and we know, that if you do THAT then your press credentials are pulled and you’re on a plane back to Atlanta.(ahem .. CNN ya listening?)
So again, Kasstro maintains a perpetual blackmail on ANY free press.
Not that the New York Times of the world need any persuasion, but come on, FOX can tackle this.
Why aren’t the Cubans in congress a bit more vocal about this?
Seems like all we can do is ASK questions !

For that matter it was the MSM the created enough uproar so that kagacastro walked into Habana without firing a shot. There was no war in Cuba, only what the press fabricated for the creation of a romantic persona. They have an agenda for sure, most are frustrated politicians without the charisma or the money to run for office and make changes through the democratic process. They write garbage out of envy for failing to reach their own elevated views of themselves. The issue here though is how do we get these boys together with their father. How do we turn the tables?

Roberto:

“If I lose my life here in Iraq, the irony won’t be I didn’t get to see my children because I was sent to war. The irony will be… because my Commander-in-Chief… did not allow me to visit them when I was able to.”

Those are Lazo's own words. The media isn't picking the story to be Sgt. Lazo vs. Bush's travel restrictions, he himself is saying that's the case.

I don't know why the sons can't leave Cuba. For all I know (if someone have more info let me now) maybe they live with their mother and she has custody?

Let Sgt. Lazo go back to visit his sons as befits the free citizen of a free country, and them, we can point to Castro's regime and ask why Cubans can't do the same. We are better because we don't do the same things.

"I don't know why the sons can't leave Cuba"

You are kidding right?

This is KASSTRO we are talking about! CONTROL CONTROL CONTROL. You think for a moment KaSStro is going to risk world wide ridicule when the kids ask to stay in the USA and actually become a news item?

So the mother has custody.. 2 weeks visit with his dad is a problem? or is the problem that they will come to the USA ask for asylum and being that these are two grown boys there will be no " the family is holding them prisoners in the USA"
My dear, the reason they can not leave is that they potentially are a MASSIVE source of anti-Kasstro publicity.

Gansibele, the flame war may start once again... Here goes:

From someone who supported Elian being returned to his father (I know I'm on the minority here, let's not make this a debate about Elian), I do find hypocritical that there isn't more written about the Lazo boys and for that matter, the many children who are not let out of Cuba to reunite with their parents here.

That's because the press has an agenda. They make an "editorial" decision to include or exclude "news." How and why do they do this? See my next response.

But since I don't believe the "media" has any agenda (liberal or otherwise) other than to sell as much ad space as possible, this lack of interest it's just a result of the "tabloidization" of news reporting - if a story isn't sexy, it doesn't get ink.

On its face, and having stated that you support Jim DeFede's position vis-a-vis Cuba, your statement is not unexpected. However, we have fairly equal stories here, albeit from different perspectives. So here you have our wonderful, fair, objective, tolerenant press seeing one case (Elian) as a custody battle, and the other (Lazo) as an "evil US Government preventing a father from seeing his kids." How can say they do not have an agenda when each of these stories, using their Elian template, should be identical! Name one objective reason why each of these stories should not get equal treatment from an editor? I can tell you one: The Big Bad US is an easier target for these numbskulls than their revolutionary hero fidel. And please, don't tell me you don't think they admire him, because they do. If you can't see the bias then you are blind because you don't want to see it.

Sgt. Lazo can't travel to Cuba himself because of the Bush restrictions - that's an much more likely angle for the press to pursue. Because you can't expect rational, non-vindictive behavior from a tyrant, but you could certainly expect better from the US government.

It is against the law for Lazo to travel to Cuba. Period. Just like I cannot do certain things I like, like smoking in a bar. What else is there to say?

Rmember that both Nazi and Soviet propaganda stem from the same principle: A repetead lie becomes a truth. That theory of the political communication was first enunciated by Lenin, then repeated by Goebbels and perfected and employed to no end by both cagastro and the NYT since their first known joint operation in the Sierra Maestra. What we see here in taht case is another example of the same. NO surprises.

Why hasnt the MSM said word one about these boys not being allowed to travel to see their own father?

My guess? Because they won't be forced to stay.

That did not come out the way I intended. I blame an insufficiency of malt-based beverage.

Because the boys will forced to stay, sundered from their father, the dominant media can not champion them or their father as it would expose them to charges of hypocrisy.

That, and they might be denied the opportunity to have Castro breathe sweet nothings in their ears.

So they blame the President in lieu of admitting their complicity in enslaving a five-year-old.

By cagastro standards, the boys are the property of the state, and therefore have no rights. Last I checked not too many Cubans were visiting family in the US.

I suggest you all read my latest post at cubanamericanpundits.com. Lincoln Diaz Balart stated on the radio today (I heard it myself) that Lazo spoke to one of his aides during his whirlwind visit of Capital Hill while lobbying for the easing of the travel restrictions. The aide asked if he wanted to have the boys come to visit him and he said no. Now unless you think the aide lied to Diaz Balart, or you believe that Balart lied to everyone listening to the radio at 3:00 PM today or you believe I'm lying to you right now (which I'm not, I'm working on getting an aircheck of the show) then this Lazo guy is full of shit. Do a google news search for "Carlos Lazo" and you'll find every news source in the country picked up his "heart-breaking" tale. This is guy who as an active duty National Guardsman distributed a tape where he criticized his commander in chief. We know he went to Cuba about two years ago. We also know he came in 1992. I wonder how many times he went to go "see his beloved sons" during the years in between.

Kids cannot leave Cuba for a visit to a foreign country when they are under military age and when their parents are not going in a high level official kagastroist mission.
When they reach military age and they cannot live Cuba, period. Military age is enforced also on females on the medical profession or who are attending college.
So, the kids cannot come visit their father, even if the American politicians set out to press for it. The tyranical misgovernment of Cuba would not allow such a rule-bending, since it would set a very dangerous (for them) precedent. The reason they do this is to avoid the embarrassment of having kids and young people talking to the press about the conditions of life in Cuba.
Now, the father could petition for them. Then the dictatorship would have to allow them to come tp live permanently in the States or it would risk it all in a case where they can be accussed of false imprisonment and kidnapping.
The interesting thing would be to know why Sgt. Lazo doesn't petition for them. Or if he did why is not happening. Or to know if those kids want to come or not... Then, we will have the picture complete. Maybe they don't want to live their mother behind and I am assuming Sgt. Lazo will not petition for her, since they are not probably married. Another possibility is that the Cuban Lazos are victims of blackmail from the government, or maybe the American Lazo is a victim of the blackmail of the Cuban government or its agents here.
In all and any cases, kagasstro considers children as owned by the State. So that puts ALL the responsibility for the separation on his shoulders. Sgt. Lazo cannot visit Cuba for only one reason, he is a member of the military in active. And members of the military in active cannot visit enemy countries in civilian functions. Cuba is an enemy country as per kagasstro's definition, not as per US definition, because in all official documents (hey, they were written by the 900 pound liberal gorilla) the United States does not recognize any threat as coming from Cuba.
The only way for those kids to come is that Sgt. Lazo claim them for permanent residence in the US. Or that Sgt. Lazo leaves the military and then he will follow in the one visit every third year statute.
I think that Sgt. Lazo should come to this blog to talk about this problem, and to learn who is the only responsible for his separation from his children, in the case he doesn't know, which I doubt. Also, I am sure that he would love to voice his concerns and ideas in a forum like this. We are waiting for him...

Just as I have no regrets that my country used big bombs against the Japanese who forced us into a war we really should have entered much earlier, I have no regrets for my country's current travel restrictions to Cuba. Sgt. Lazo, who I can admire for his service to the country, even if his motives for signing up have never been explored, disappoints when he tries to criticize the administration for enforcing sanctions against an illegal government from which Sgt. Lazo ran away from, leaving his children behind. You can't have it both ways though many Cubans have tried. If you seek to escape from an oppressive government and accept special considerations from the United States government as an asylum seeker, you cannot really believe that you should be allowed to travel back to where you supposedly escaped from. The American fight for freedom was not easy, so what makes you think that the struggle for Cuba's freedom should be any easier. Sorry Sgt. Lazo, you can get those of low integrity to take up your cause, but me, I have no regrets about you not being able to go give Castro a few of your American earned money. What you should be fighting for is the right to have your children be able to visit you here, in your new home, in a land of laws, where you can give them a few new experiences. Wonder why that is not the case?

"It is against the law for Lazo to travel to Cuba. Period. Just like I cannot do certain things I like, like smoking in a bar. What else is there to say?"

That is exactly my point (and his). It's illegal and it shouldn't be. It's an unjust president mandate, passed on an electoral year to placate Cuban Americans and it should be lobbied against and repealed, which is exactly what Lazo is doing. Feel free to lobby to repeal smoking bans.

"How can say they do not have an agenda when each of these stories, using their Elian template, should be identical! Name one objective reason why each of these stories should not get equal treatment from an editor?"

I don't see where they are identical at all. In one there was a surviving parent who had custody and wanted his son returned to him. In the other one, another father wants to visit his sons annd he's protesting against his government which is preventing him to do so. The press is reflecting the story angle. This is about the travel restrictions, not about Castro not letting the kids out. That's just what you want it to be.

If anything, be happy that the press isn't paying more attention. Maybe if they did, the story of how unjust the new restrictions are would come out and Bush may be forced to ease them.

Gansibele:

[What Gansibele means by the way?].

Probably I am the one closer to your positions around here. Nevertheless, I think the media loves to present USA in the worse possible light. With that in mind it will bent the truth, will omite facts, will do everything necessary (on the "false but accurate" spirit).

Frank says that this is a country of laws and that is true. But thare are good and bad laws. And I don't think that I should say to this guy what he must do or don't with his life and his kids. I only say Thanks for your military service! That's it. I could advice something if we were friends but we are not.

It seems to me an error to meassure what we as Americans do by what Castro does. It is not right -in my opinion of course- to say we do this because Castro does that. Or to justify one thing with the other. If we do what Castro wants he is manipulating us but if we do the opposite then he is manipulating us all the same. The only way of sorting things out is -again in my opinion- tho think in terms of the traditions of freedom and individual liberty of this country. Maybe coming from the same source we Cubans will get to agree more often.

Have good Friday!

Roberto

"Feel free to lobby to repeal smoking bans."

If only we could, if only we could...

One more example of the Nanny State that many are trying to create/enhance .... They will put limits to what you eat if they can...

But... :-) Should society provide health services to those that screwed their health smoking?

Roberto

I recently read "Waiting for Snow in Havana," by Dr. Carlos Eire. At the end of the book there is a 2-page interview with the author. He is asked what motivated him to write the book:

"The most immediate trigger was the Elian Gonzalez affair. It reminded me far too much of my own experience as one of 14,000 children who had come to the United States from Cuba alone, and whose parents were intentionally kept in Cuba by the Castro regime. The sheer hypocrisy behind Castro's claim that every child should be with his or her parent was what angered me the most and brought up so many memories. It was like a volcanic eruption."

Does that make it clear WHO is responsible for these tragedies involving divided families? And WHO must be made to answer for it?

Frank
To the point and no emotions
A PERFECT summary of the situation.
Hat's off to ya!

Roberto you are going to laugh at this: It's the name of a character in a Russian schoolbook. Pichón de comunista que soy, I studied Russian at the "Sociedad de Amistad Cubano-Soviética". The name stuck with me and it was easy to remember for my hotmail account. Not that I identify with the character or anything, he was just a peasant in czarist Russia times.

Gansibele,

No, I am not going to laugh. I worked and lived in Moscow for many years and Russia is very much part of my life and part of who I am. As a matter of fact, my daugther just returned from vacations over there. I could know who this Gansibele is just asking around... :-)

Who do the boys live with in Havana? Anyone know?

Shall I assume there's a reason for the horny goat weed posts? Is that what castro is smoking these days?