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(This letter has been submitted in Spring 2000 Dear Editor, Do Americans No Longer Value Freedom? One would think so. In a recent poll it was stated that the majority of Americans believe the freedom-loving boy, Elian Gonzalez, should live in Cuba. This means that Americans are indifferent about sending a child back to a freedom-less, prison-like dictatorship. But in our free country, this shouldn't be happening. Where are all the gun owners who insist their second amendment rights be upheld? Where are all the feminists who are adamant about a woman's freedom to choose? Where are all the liberals who scream when someone's freedom of speech is violated? In Cuba, there are no freedoms for anyone-to own guns, to choose abortion, or to even speak about the word "freedom." Who will scream for Elian? For those Americans who believe that Cubans are merely living a different lifestyle, here is one example of this "lifestyle." Imagine speaking out that you will no longer obey the demands of Castro, and that your life is your own to live. You would be arrested, imprisoned for a minimum of five years, and be physically and psychologically tortured. (See report of the Human Rights Watch.) You dare not speak any words against Castro for fear that your neighbor or relative is an informant to the regime. Americans will have to choose between caring about Elian's father or Elian's freedom. They cannot have it both ways. Either we give Elian freedom from the prison they call Cuba, or sentence him to a nightmare of trying to forget the freedom he once had in America. If he goes back, Castro will make sure that the thought of freedom is beaten out of him, psychologically and physically. Sincerely, Amy Charters |