The News You Can Expect: Elian Joins Young Communists

I could have written this in 2000.  Really, anyone could have.  In news that was a matter of when, not if, Elian Gonzalez is used for propaganda.

Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy whose two-nation custody battle sparked debate about parental rights versus political freedom and ended with a raid by gun-toting U.S. agents, has joined his homeland's Young Communist Union.

Gonzalez, 14, was among 18,000 people who joined the communist youth group two days ago, said the state-run newspaper Juventud Rebelde. The teenager is quoted as pledging fealty to ex-President Fidel Castro and his brother and successor, Raul Castro.

``Fidel and Raul can count on us,'' Gonzalez said, according to the newspaper. ``We won't let them down.''

Gonzalez may very well have joined of his own volition, but even if not, he was destined to be trotted out as a good little communist.  He is a trophy for the Cuban communist regime, and they are going to show him off every so often as long as the Castros run the island.