The Great Divide

Correspondence from our readers

A A A Comments Thursday, May 11 2000

...continued from page 20

These are a few of the facts that have not been clearly explained by the U.S. media, perhaps unintentionally, perhaps not, creating an atmosphere of misinformation leading to uneducated opinions and remarks that have adversely affected Cubans and Cuban Americans for more than four decades.

I'd like to encourage my fellow citizens who are not familiar with life in present-day Cuba to become more informed on the subject. Hopefully there may be more people who would be able to see that the case of Elian is not a "custody" matter (since custody belongs to the state) but rather another ploy by Castro to further engage his lifelong phobic foe, Uncle Sam, and divert the Cuban people from the misery to which he has subjected them since January 1, 1959, for the simple and unequivocal sake of holding power.

More About

Like this Story?

Sign up for the Weekly Newsletter: Our weekly feature stories, movie reviews, calendar picks and more - minus the newsprint and sent directly to your inbox.

José Manuel Alvariño
Miami Beach

A bright, shining star has come from our community and we should be singing her praises, not rendering silence. I speak of an outstanding lady who is also a master of diplomacy: our nation's attorney general.

A short time ago our streets were blocked with protesters who later castigated Janet Reno for announcing that she would uphold immigration laws. Our mayors received international attention for doing their part in shaming Miami-Dade County. At news conferences concerning these incidents, and even with baited questions from journalists about the potential crisis here, Ms. Reno was extremely generous in her responses. During Ted Koppel's Nightline town hall meeting, she soothed angry questioners for the better part of an hour. She has never uttered one unkind word about this community, its leaders, or any of those people who have painted her as an agent of the devil.

We should be very proud of Janet Reno. But our silent majority says nothing. We should be calling or writing to let her know that although we have been very quiet, we support and appreciate her efforts to enforce the law.

And in the future we might take a lesson from our Cuban-American fellow citizens -- that is, to speak up for those things we care about in our community, our state, and our nation.

Errol L. Clark, Jr.
South Miami