Yankees pitcher Jose Contreras fled from Cuba a couple of years ago. The island nation is the last communist dictatorship in the Western Hemisphere and Cuban "President" Fidel Castro was none too happy that one of his star pitchers had decided that capitalism was a good thing.

Ever since that day, Contreras' wife and two daughters have tried every legal method to rejoin him here in the United States. Castro, however, personally barred them from leaving.

Earlier this week, after boarding a speedboat and outracing the Coast Guard to the Florida Keys, the three reached America and freedom.

The Contreras' aren't the only families who have suffered through this kind of separation, enforced by Castro's iron grip on the island of Cuba.

Flash back to the Clinton administration and a young Cuban boy named Elian Gonzalez. The boy was found holding onto an innertube -- his mother had drowned trying to reach freedom. Castro whipped up his propaganda machine and played the "family" card. Elian should be reunited with his father who loves Castro and Cuba. Clinton, and Janet Reno's corrupt Justice Department, decided that Elian belonged with his father in jail Cuba, and forcibly repatriated him.

Does Castro really care about reuniting families? Of course not, and everyone who isn't a loony leftist knew it.

But did the Clinton administration get any assurances from Castro regarding exit visas for other families held captive on his soil? Did we get any reciprocity whatsoever?

No.

Communism cannot be sustained forever. Castro will eventually expire (faster, please) and Cuba will once again know bounty and freedom.

But even when you hear happy endings, like that of the Contreras family, remember the Elian Gonzalez's of Cuba.