There is no clearcut answer to the question of whether or not Elian Gonzalez should stay in the United States or return home with his father.

Wednesday, April 05, 2000

There is no clearcut answer to the question of whether or not Elian Gonzalez should stay in the United States or return home with his father.

There are too many variables – a father’s right to have custody of his son and the intent of a mother who risked everything to escape to a new country and a new life.

A 6-year old boy cannot possibly understand the significance of his plight. He will, however, take with him the image of his mother losing her own life in an effort to make her son’s a better one. The little boy will carry forever the image of his mother drowning on a makeshift raft trying to reach freedom.

Emotions cloud the issue. It is impossible to know if each side’s motivation is pure. But, what has remained a constant question is what influence the Cuban government in general and Fidel Castro in specific have over this family and Elian’s father.

No one really knows what we are sending this little boy back to if he is forced to return to Cuba.

No one that is except the Cuban-Americans who have risked their lives to escape to the United States. That is why many of these newly minted citizens have protested the U.S. government’s willingness to turn over this child to what is no less than a communist totalitarian regime that has a history of mistreating its people.

The truth is that as long as Elian has due process rights he can pursue in the United States, he at least has a chance of finding a life that will allow him freedom and a happy life. Turn him over to his father before all angles of his future have been examined and the case is closed.