EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnEXECUTIVE EDITORrnScott P. RichertrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, Jr.rnART DIRECTORrnH. Ward SterettrnDESIGNERrnMelanie AndersonrnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnKatherine Dalton, Samuel Francis,rnGeorge Garrett, Paul Gottfried,rnPhilip Jenkins, J.O. Tate, MichaelrnWashburn, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, Donald Livingston,rnWilliam Mills, William Murchison,rnAndrei Navrozov, Jacob NeusnerrnFOREIGN AFFAIRS EDITORrnSrdja TrifiovicrnLEGAL AFFAIRS EDITORrnStephen B. PresserrnRELIGION EDITORrnHarold O.J. BrownrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnCindy LinkrnPUBLISHERrnThe Rockford InstituternA publication oLI’he Rockford Institute.rnE.ditorial and Advertising Offices:rn928 North Main Street, Rockford, IL 61 lOVrnWebsite: V”\A,chroniclcsniagazinc.orgrnEditorial Phone: (815) 964-5054.rnAdvertising Phone: (815) 964-5815.rnSubscription Department: P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris, IL 61054. Call 1-800-877-5459.rnU.S.A. Nevsstand Distribution b’ Eastern NewsrnDistributors, Inc., One Media Wav, 12406 Rt. 250,rnMilan, Ohio 44848-9705.rnCopyright ® 2000 b- The Rockford Institute.rn.All rights reserved.rnChronicles (ISSN 0887-5751) is publishedrnnionthlc for $39.00 (foreign subscriptions add $12rnfor surface deliver}-, S48 for ,Air Mail) per year b’rnThe Rockford Institute, 928 North Main Street,’rnRockford, IL 61103-7061. Preferred periodicalrnpostage paid at Rockford, IL and additional mailingrnoffices. POSTMASTER: Send addressrnchanges to Chromdes, P.O. Box 800,rnMount Morris, II. 61054.rnThe views expressed in Chronicles arc thernauthors’ alone and do not necessarily reflectrnthe ieus of I’hc Rockford Institute or of itsrndirectors. Unsolicited manuscripts cannot l)ernrehirned unless accompanied b” a self-addressedrnstamped envelope.rnChroniclesrn’ol,24, No. 7 July 2(100rnI’riiilal III Ihc Lliiitc’cl Slates of .iiicricLirnPOLEMICS & EXCHANGESrnOn ElianrnThomas Fleming is wrong when hernwrites {Cultural Revolutions, April) that,rnby Cuban law, Elian Gonzalez belongsrnto his next-of-kin, his father. Accordingrnto Cuban law (specifically the Codigo dernFamilia Ley, No. 1289), parental authorit’rnis subordinated to “inculcating” thern”internationalist spirit and socialistrnmoralitv’.” According to Article 95, sectionrnthree, of this so-called family code,rngovernment tribunals can “deprive bothrnparents, or one of them, parental authorit}’,”rnwhen both parents fail to indoctrinaterntheir children in communist morality.rnUnder Cuban law, Elian has one “father”rnwho ultimately decides what valuernsystem he will be raised in, and his namernis Fidel Castro.rnSecondly, Dr. Fleming is guilt}’ of anrnOrwellian use of the English language.rnHe stated that Elian’s mother “died in anrnillegal attempt to enter the UnitedrnStates.” One may agree or disagree withrncurrent U.S. immigration policy, but onerncannot dispute that, under Lyndon Johnson’srn1966 Cuban Adjustment Act,rnElian’s mother is given automatic residencvrnupon reaching U.S. soil. How canrnher attempt to enter the United States bernillegal if, upon entering, she would berngranted residency a year and a day later?rnThe Clinton administration’s 1995 circumventionrnof the spirit of this law, withoutrnrepealing it, in a migration agreementrnwith the Castro regime is justrnanother example of the lawlessness of thernClinton administration, not of Elian’srnmother. The claim that “by Americanrnlaw, the boy is simply an illegal alien whorncan either be returned to Cuba or stuckrnin a concentration camp” is just wrong.rnUnder U.S. law, the child was grantedrnhumanitarian parole and was on his wayrnto receiving residency a year and a dayrnlater before Castro’s tantrum led to thernINS reversing its decision.rnDr. Fleming cites the American abortionrnrate, declaring “it is hard to believern[Cuba] begins to approach the Americanrnlevel.” Pax Christi sent a delegation tornCuba back in 1998 and was profoundlyrndisturbed to report that, according to thernCuban minister of health, there is onernabortion to every birtli in Cuba. PaxrnChristi claimed that, at a “rather largernnearby hospital, that we visit often, approximatelyrnthirty abortions take placerndaily. It is not unusual for women to bernforced to have abortions. To rebelrnagainst the practice is futile.”rnDr. Fleming’s observation that “recentrnvisitors to Cuba have not returned withrnstories of massive oppression and executions”rnshould be placed in a larger historicalrncontext. I’d recommend that he obtainrna transcript of Daniel Wolfs BBC2rndocumentaries. Tourists of the Revolution.rnIt’s amazing how visitors to some ofrnthe most brutal and murderous tyranniesrnof this century failed to mentionrnmass murder and wholesale oppression.rnGeorge Bernard Shaw visited the SovietrnUnion in 1931 and returned with storiesrnof “an atmosphere of hope and securit)’ asrnhas never before been seen in a civilizedrncountr)’ on earth.” Another visitor to thern”worker’s paradise” built by that wonderfulrnhumanitarian Stalin, Barbara Castie,rnthen a journalist, reported “no atmospherernof repression” in pre-war Moscow,rnonly glorious opportunities for women.rnMeanwhile, millions were being starved,rnmassacred, and banished to gulags inrnSiberia.rnThere is a paradox at work in Cuba.rnThe more foreign investment in jointrnpartnerships with the regime, the greaterrnthe shrinkage in the Cuban private sector.rnReuters reported in 1998 that “currentrnand former members of the privaternsector blame the falloff on excessive staterncontrols and taxes imposed after the introductionrnof some market-oriented featuresrnin 1993.” This clampdown on thernprivate sector coincided with the arrivalrnof hard currency from European andrnCanadian investors. This hard currencyrnhas been used to sustain the Cuban policernstate. Dropping sanctions and providingrnU.S. credits and hard currency tornprop up the regime will only earn the enmityrnof the Cuban people.rnReports of massive repression in Cubarnhave appeared in the Economist, inrnwhich Pedro Betancur reported on thernbrutal January 22 beating of humanrightsrnactivists by a government mob.rnSixty-eight-year-old Gloria Gonzalez describedrnthe attack: “They hit one of myrnsons on the head with a stick, cutting himrnbadly. They broke another’s rib. Theyrnkicked me hard and knocked me over.”rnSeven of the victims of the beating werern4/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn