Child kidnappings in custody cases happen all the time.
The boy belonged with his father. I have little use for Alan Keyes but he was absolutely right when he said, "If the boy's mother was in Havana does anyone doubt tha he would be on the first plane back ? Would anyone, anywhere support taking Elian from his mother ? So why are father's expendable ? Why does no one have any respect for a father's right to raise his son ?"
I would agree with you if this had been a normal child kidnapping. But, if the situation had been reversed and the father had died while taking the child to the US, I think the reaction would have been the same towards sending the child back to live with his mother in a Communist dictatorship.