arrested. According to the independentrnHuman Rights and National ReconcihationrnCommission in Havana, ahnost 600rnpeople have been temporarily detainedrnsince November, and the commissionrnhas documented 350 political prisoners.rnThey call it the worst crackdown in arndecade.rnDr. Oscar Elias Bisect, a medical doctor,rnv’as fired from his job after protestingrnlate-term abortions at a government hospitalrnwhere he worked and continued tornenrage the dictatorship by carryingrnprotest signs charging the regime with beingrn”child murderers.” Dr. Biscet wasrnsentenced to a three-year prison term forrnhis activism. This culture of death wasrnmanifested on July 13, 1994, whenrnagents of the regime massacred 41 men,rnwomen, and children whose sole crimernwas tring to flee the island. Wliole familiesrnwere murdered. Agents of the Castrornregime destroyed the parental rightsrnof the fathers and mothers along withrntiieir li’es, and the lives of their children,rnwithout mercy. In Dr. Fleming’s rush tornexpose tiie shortcomings of American domesticrnand foreign policy, he has committedrnthe error of whitewashing the lastrnStalinist dictatorship in the Westernrnhemisphere.rn—]ohn /. SuarezrnCoordinatorrnFree Cuba FoundationrnMiami, FLrnI would like to commend Dr. Flemingrnfor his excellent interview with DeanrnKoontz in the April issue. However, hisrneditorial in Cultural Revolutions wasrnwholly misguided. Accusing “conservativernRepublican politicians and familyvaluesrnChristians” of “mischief is thernwrong approach to the Elian Gonzalezrnsituation. While it is true that conservativesrnand liberals have taken positions onrnthe issue that are the exact opposite ofrntheir usual reactions, there is good reasonrnto explain it, and Dr. Fleming neglects tornpoint this out.rnConservatives are normally opposed tornincreased immigration, but in the interestsrnof protecting a little boy from a communistrndictator (who is the only reasonrnthat Mr. Gonzalez wants his son to returnrnfrom the freedom he has in America),rntiie- have sided with many Cuban-Americans.rnLiberals and Dr. Fleming haverntaken the unusual tack of proclaimingrnobservance of Cuban and U.S. familyrnlaw, which both dictate that Elian returnrnto his father in Cuba. But in 1984, Cubarnand the United States signed a treat}’ outliningrnthe terms of migration from Cubarnto the United States, and in 1995, Cubarnand the United States reaffirmed a 1994rncommitment to ensure “safe, orderly,rnand legal” migration. Under the 1995rnagreement, any refugee intercepted atrnsea by the U.S. Coast Guard or who illegallyrnentered Cuantanamo Naval Basernwas to be returned to Cuba. As Mark Falcoffrnpointed out in the April 2000 issue ofrnCommentary, the Cuban Adjushnent Actrnof 1964 grants automatic political asylumrnto anyone (including Elian) who makesrnit to U.S. shores.rnThe true “besetting American sin” willrnbe abdicating to Castro’s political smokernbombs and supporting normal trade relationsrnwith China. Ihe United Statesrnshoidd adhere to its agreements and enforcerneconomic sanctions across thernboard on countries that violate basic humanrnrights and liberties.rn— Nathan ByerlyrnPublisherrnCarolina ReviewrnChapel Hill, NCrnI picked up my April issue of Chroniclesrntoday and could hardly believe my eyesrnwhen I began to read the piece which advocatedrnmaking little Elian a sacrificialrnlamb to Castro. I turned the page to seernwho the heretic was who dared violaterndie pages of my favorite periodical. Tornmy horror, it vyas you. Dr. Fleming.rnThe Elian issue has become a litmusrntest of sorts, which speaks volumes aboutrnthe current state of our polities andrnmoralit)’. The reprobate Clinton mob,rnwith their moll Ma Reno and her stoogernDoris Meissner at the INS, care littlernabout defending our borders and nationalrnsovereignt}-. They allow millions of illegalrnaliens to violate our borders and failrnto deport even criminal aliens, but theyrnare hell-bent to deport Elian to pleasernCastro. To our shame, the majorit)- ofrnAmericans support tiiem.rnAlong witii Castro’s propaganda machine,rnAmerican fellow travelers and thernClinton mob haye put forth a propagandarnbarrage based on parental rights (arnconcept foreign to communist totalitarianism).rnThey are abetted by our mainstreamrnmedia’s hostility toward Elian’srnMiami family and the surroundingrnCuban-American community. MattrnLauer, Katie Couric, Gloria Borger, andrnSam Donaldson, to name a few, canrnscarcely contain their fierce intolerancernof anyone wlio tries to explain the facts ofrnthe ease.rnThe decay of the conservative movementrnhas been illustrated by “conservatives”rnlike Rep. Steve Largent (R-OK)rnwho have bought into the Clinton/Castrornpropaganda campaign. That strange alliancernwith the left is made in the namernof “the rule of law” and “family values.”rnSome of my associates in the immigrationrncontrol movement take the absurd,rnhard-line position that Elian is here illegallyrnand must, therefore, be deported.rnThey argue that we must obey the custodyrnlaws irrespective of whether Cubarnshows any respect for the rule of law.rnIt has become obvious that most Americansrnhave lost, or perhaps never had, fearrnand loathing of communist oppression.rnThat excuse does not apply in your case,rnwhich seems to be biult on despair at ourrnown decay and the moral equivalence argumentrnused so often by the left duringrnthe Cold War. I confess that I had somerninitial concerns about Elian being exposedrnto all of the corrupting influencesrnin America today. But the logical extensionrnof that line of thought is to advocaterntotalitarianism here to purge negative influences.rnYou have chosen the side of Bill Clinton,rnJanet Reno, Maxine Waters, AlrnSharpton, and a lot of other unsavoryrncharacters. I would hope that fact givesrnyou some pause. I have only Al Gore tornjolt my comfort zone. I am willing to allowrnthat even he ma)’ be subject to an occasionalrnattack of conscience, but even ifrnhis enlightened position is due to politicalrnconsiderations, any help in savingrnElian from a life under communist oppressionrnis welcome.rn— GaryK. StarkrnLa Palma, CArnWho could quarrel with the vigorouslyrnlogical analysis you have made of therncase of Elian Gonzalez? And yet, severalrnpoints remain to be covered.rnThe mother of the child who made thernsupreme sacrifice in order to free her sonrnfrom life under an evil dictatorship, althoughrndead, remains a factor in the case.rnWliat were the motives or impulses thatrncaused her to engage in a perilous adventurernv’ith her little boy on an improvisedrnembarkation in which she and ten companionsrnmet death, while her son was thernsole miraciflous survivor?rnThe child was apparenfly in the custodyrnof the mother; as to your statementrntiiat he entered the United States illegally,rnhe was obviously brought ashore byrnlULY 2000/5rnrnrn