[MEGoody]

Little Elian's situation was not an easy one. On the one hand, we'd all have loved for him to stay here in America and grow up free. On the other hand, the child's mother had recently died, and it would seem to me that it would be better for him to be with his dad than living with relatives he had not known. (And frankly, relatives that didn't seem all that mentally stable themselves.) I know we all hate Castro's regime, but a little boy doesn't know from regime - he just knows he wants his daddy.

[RMDupree]

What gets me is that Elian could not have both.

The Cuban govt would not allow Juan Miguel to stay, thus it was one or the other. I firmly believe that if given the chance to act freely, without fear of repercussions, Juan Miguel would have chosen to stay here with his son.

Remember that Juan Miguel had previously applied for a visa to come here on two occasions prior to Elian's rescue. and that Juan Miguel had called the Miami family in advance to let them know Elian and his mom were on their way.

I know this from speaking personally to the Gonzalez family here in Miami and they have the phone records to prove it.