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Letters From Our Readers
and Our Responses
Responses by
Mark Da Cunha
THE HYPOCRISY OF THE LEFTIST AMERICAN PRESS
In the interview that Mr. Wallace did to Elián's father you
could see that he was very nervous and kept on looking
to the side, like expecting someone to advise him what
to say. One of the questions Mr.
Wallace made was; "It has been suggested in some quarters and I'll
give you the opportunity to respond, that the reason you do not come to
Miami is because the Cuban government is afraid that once you get to Miami
you will defect. How do you respond to that? Answer:
"And who said that? Isn't clear? I haven't been
pressured at any time. All my claims came from me,
myself. I also said at every opportunity that I lost
nothing up there. If I were to go, I might be capable of
going with a rifle to, I don't know, put an end to all
those people." Is Mr. Wallace naive or are we
becoming mentally ill? How does he expects Eliáns'
father to say, "Yes I am being oppressed, get me
out of here, let my son stay in Miami." I thought
we were more intelligent than that. And this is what is
being sold to the American people by the government.
I would not say all of them but, a few. -- Maria Elena
Sanchez-Ocejo
LET US NOT TREAT ELIÁN LIKE WE TREATED THE JEWS
One of the aspects of this case that troubles me greatly
is that it when this issue came up in 1940, when a boat arrived on US shores with
Jewish refugees, mostly children, President Roosevelt to make perhaps the
worst decision of his Presidency, namely, to send that boat back to
Europe, where more than two-thirds of its passengers perished in the
Holocaust. What worries me is that based on the arguments
of those who wish to send Elián back to Cuba and based
on the political atmosphere of appeasement of a
dictator, I see no reason why that situation, if it came
up today, would not result in the same tragic outcome.
-- M. Brenner
FREE ELIAN'S CUBAN FAMILY
Elián should be allowed to remain with his family here in
the U.S. His family here has bent over backwards to make sure
that he has a home, clothes, food, toys -- and most of all he is
happy. His family here is his only chance he has for a good
life. Here he will be freed from Cuba. He should have a
relationship with his family from Cuba though. I think they SHOULD be
allowed to be released from Cuba. I disagree very strongly
with slave states. We should abolish slavery. People are
breathing human beings and should not be tied up and treated
like animals. That is pretty much what they are doing when they
make all their people's decisions. This is wrong. -- A. Evans
WHAT WOULD ELIÁN THINK IF HE WERE OLDER AND STAYED?
I personally want to thank you for what your doing to help
Elián have the opportunity to stay in this land of freedom. I
was born in Cardenas Cuba, the same city were Elián is from. I
do not know his family, because I left Cuba when I was 13 years
of age. My
parents sent me to this country, while they stayed behind, so I could be
raised in a free country. I have always thanked them for that. That
is what Elián's father should do if he is a good father. -- Z.
Gonzalez
A RATIONAL APPROACH
I am an American of Cuban descent who until finding your
site was actually undecided in this whole debate. I was torn by
the rights of the sole surviving parent and my understanding of
the totalitarian Cuban state. Thank you for taking me back to my
objectivist roots and laying down a principled and rational
approach to the issue. In an environment choking with
demagoguery on both sides your clear headed approach merits a
wider audience. -- R. de Villiers
FATHERS RIGHTS VS. ELIAN'S RIGHTS
Has anyone thought about the rights of the father? If this
same situation occurred within the USA, there would no question
as to what would happen to the child -- he would be in the care
of his father. The "normal" childhood you speak of for
Elián is in Cuba, where he has lived his entire life. We should
not try to solve what is actually above politics, this is a
moral situation. Family is above politics. -- Anon.
RESPONSE: And individual rights is above family.
Elián's human rights come first; and in Cuba Elián doesn't have any. The
situation would be different for an American father not because the father
is American, but because America is not a slave state (though the Left is
working very hard to change that). If Elián's father were in America, or
any other free country, he would be granted custody.
A CUBAN GRANDMOTHER SPEAKS
I have been very concerned about the future of this little
boy, Elián Gonzalez. His mother died thinking that her son
would find liberty and justice in the United States and love
with the family here in Miami. But how wrong she was. Love he
found, not only in Cuban- Americans, but also in many Americans
concern about the welfare of this little boy who is in the hands
of a law that for some is great but for others is cold and
cruel. "Liberty and Justice for All." I do not think
that in this case there is justice nor liberty for Elián.
All I have heard is about the Father wanting him back, now the
grandmothers wants him back and everybody has talk, talk and
talk. Mrs. Meissner talks about the best interest of the child,
but send him to Cuba. Nothing else, that is it. Cuba, a country where people do not trust
even their parents. I met a boy that came from Cuba in a
raft, and he told me how dangerous the sea was and how dark it
was at night, suddenly I thought as a Mother and asked him.
"How did your parents let you come?" and he answered
back, "I did not tell them I was coming, over there (Cuba)
you cannot trust even your parents." How sad, how very sad.
Is there Liberty in Cuba? I don't think so. But we do have it here, if
not I wouldn't be able to say what I think.
Do we have justice? I think we do. In Cuba what kind of justice do they
have that if you don't think as the government wants you, you are in jail
the next day. Castro has written Cuba's history with blood
of many innocent people and still we want to send a six year old
back to this country. I ask myself, is this justice?
I am a grandmother, I would give my life for my grandchildren --
so I do not understand Elián's grandmothers. The American
family gave them the opportunity to see their grandchild, but
they supposedly were so afraid that somebody would hurt them
that they did not dare go to Lazaro Gonzalez's home. This is
absurd, nobody, nothing not even fear would have kept away from
seeing my grandson. The 'Grandmothers', what a beautiful word.
Nobody have thought that these grandmothers, are not as sweet as
our grandmothers and they might be in Cuba the persons that can
accuse another grandchild, a son, or a father, and put them in
jail or even have them killed because they do not think that
communism is the perfect regime. -- Maria Elena Sanchez-Ocejo
DID ELIAN'S MOTHER DIE FOR NOTHING?
Elián's mother has died for freedom trying to escape from
the hands of communist party. The boy's father and his
grandmothers knew Elián and his mother fled Cuba. They don't
have the right to get the boy back. Let the boy stay in the
United State with his great uncle. Elián's mother has paid for
her life trying to escape from Cuba. Apparently she wanted
freedom from US. She won't be pleased if the boy sent back to
Cuba. -- J. Chan
DON'T SEND ELIAN BACK TO PRISON
I completely agree with the position that Elián must not be
returned to this totalitarian state. Not only would we be
sending Elián back to what constitutes a prison, but we would
give legitimacy to Castro's regime. What a joke that the
grandmother's truly cared about Elián -- they didn't even
bother to see him in the home he was living in. I am sure that
the communist orchestrated the entire thing and the instructions
did not permit the visit to his American home. How safe to send
the grandmas -- why not the dad if he cares so much, or was it
the fear that if he came, he would not return. Only a fool would
return to prison. -- H. Montano
OPEN YOUR EYES AMERICA
It never ceases to amaze me how many Americans are willing
to turn a blind eye to the absolute horrors of life under
Castro. I appreciate what you're doing to change that. Keep up
the good work. -- G Mon
DON'T LET ELIAN'S FAMILY -- OR OTHER CUBANS -- COME TO THE U.S.
I am against any plan to allow Elián's family in Cuba to
immigrate to the United States. The real issue is that of a
custodial parent who, without contacting the non custodial
parent, kidnapped their child. Elián's mother planned to
illegally enter the U.S. with her son. Upon doing this she held
no regard for her former husbands right to visitation with his
son, in fact she essentially ensured that he would not see his
son again. If this behavior were to occur within the U.S. the
custodial parent would have been charged with kidnapping and
jailed. The answer to Elián's plight is NOT to allow everyone
in Cuba to come to the U.S. -- J. Rackley
WHY DOESN'T CASTRO TRY TO REUNITE CUBAN CHILDREN WITH THEIR PARENTS IN THE
U.S.?
If I may I would like to point out a little know fact
concerning the fate of Elián Gonzalez. there were 2 other
survivors which came with Elián. One of them is a young mother
who, for lack of room, left her daughter in Cuba. Why aren't
Castro and Clinton trying to get that girl living with her
mother in America? -- J. Vazquez
WHAT ELIAN FEELS
I truly feel for that little boy. He has been through a major
ordeal, on the way to this country. No one has given any thought
of the trauma of the accident. You have to go through an
accident at sea, and not knowing if you are going to survive or
not. "I" have gone through that horrible
experience.
I have a daughter, we were victims of a horrible boating
accident in April 1995. The boat that caused the accident left
the scene of the accident, it was almost dark and we were at the
mercy of our Lord. I was not able to talk about the accident for
a few years, and still have those terrible flashbacks. The
mother was a very brave lady to do what she did.
I truly believe, in my heart, that Elián should be left to
decide when he is old enough where he wants to be. He should
stay in this country until that time. Where he can make that
decision on his own, where as in Cuba he will never have the
opportunity to make that decision freely. Right now he is with a
loving family who really cares about his well being as a human.
In Cuba he belongs to Castro, not to the family.
I am of Cuban origin, born in Cuba and left at age 6 with my
mother and sister in 1960. My father stayed behind. He is still
there. I did not see my father until I was old enough to make
the decision on my own. That was in 1979. I am very glad I had
the opportunity to be in this Great Country and thank my mother
for making the decision to come to the US.
Who are these US politicians saying: "what is best is for
the boy to return?" They do not live in Cuba, nor do they know what Cuba is
really all about, only what Cuba's owner decides the people know.
Elián's father and the rest of the family over in Cuba belong
to that
government, they are no one, just another number in the
biggest farmland in the world, with only one owner telling
everyone what to think, what to do, and what they can say or not
say. I say LET THE CHILD STAY, until he is old enough to decide
if he prefers Cuba over his NEW FOUND LAND, where his mothers
last wish was: in a free world. -- A. Fernandez
OMINOUS PARALLELS
Part of that Boston Globe article is ominous. Look at this
excerpt from Cuban law re: the education of the young:
"The communist formation of the young generation is a
valued aspiration of the state, the family, the teachers, the
political organizations, and the mass organizations that act in
order to foster in youth the ideological values of
communism."
I bet in America, in regard to its own state-run schools, we
could replace the words "communist" and
"communism" with "democratic" and
"democracy." -- M. Baum
I STILL HAVE NIGHTMARES ABOUT CUBA
I came to this country of freedom at the age of 10 from my
native Cuba. now 34 years later I still have nightmares about
the repressive government that Fidel has imposed upon the Cuban
people. Thank you for taking a stand for what is right.
WHITE-WASHING COMMUNISM
Just reading a few pages from the "The National Council
of the Churches of Christ" I believe them to be a front
with the purpose of introducing communism to the US. I say this
after reading some of the following page A
Child's Glimpse of Cuba.
Though I have not finished reading their pages, because these
pages involve activities used to introduce what Cuba is not --
disneyland. This page is aimed at CHILDREN!!! This wouldn't be
too far fetched, knowing that Castro came to power in Cuba
wearing a big cross on his neck, but then having his people
destroy all religious items from homes and driving away nuns and
prostitutes in garbage trucks. Children are his best weapon,
they are the future and they are taught to love him and hate the
US with rage, at schools in Cuba.
The materials are these and they are summarized on their
page: new
cuba study.
I have felt the pull of communistic propaganda twice in
Miami-Dade public schools. The first time by a teacher in Junior
High, when I was about 12 (she was a young woman telling the
class that communism wasn't intended to cause harm) and last
year -- a text book describing the "horrible"
anti-communist tactics in the US, it's compared to Salem's witch
trials (it felt so scary and familiar seeing the "cradle
will rock" movie ads). If I was exposed to this, how many
kids have been as well? And, were they informed of what
communism is really like, before?
Millions of Cuban exiles live here in Miami and the world.
They carry their knowledge and of their families of what
communism is. I wish everyone could open their hearts and pour
out their pain through an encyclopedia of truths, with names,
places and all detail. Communism came as a trick to so many, I
don't what it here in the US or anywhere else.
Radio Mambi WAQI AM (305-445-4040) is the most honest talk
radio we have and all of us, burned by communism, are faithful
listeners, especially our elderly who have seen Cuba before and
during Communism. -- Celia A. Escalante
A RATIONAL POSITION
I just wanted to commend the author of the petition. I cannot
imagine a more convincing statement of the rational position on
this issue. -- D. Caless
Commentary by Mark Da Cunha. Mark Da Cunha is publisher and
editor in chief of Capitalism
Magazine.
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