CUBANET ... CUBANEWS

April 7, 2000



The Revolution and the Custody Case

By Jorge Valls. The New York Times. April 7, 2000

MIAMI -- One day in 1952, there was a coup in my country against the legitimate government, and I thought -- and still believe -- that it was a real catastrophe for Cuba.

I went to fight against the Batista regime. That evening I was put in jail and badly beaten. After seven years of revolutionary struggle, in 1959, that spurious government was substituted amid a civil war by a new one, led by Fidel Castro, which from the very beginning didn't offer any guarantee that the fundamentals of law would be enforced.

Like Mr. Castro, I wanted a radical change in Cuban society, but I also knew that authority would never become legitimate unless the pure power of violence was submitted to reason, and strict respect for individual rights was guaranteed.

Without civil rights, the best intentions turn into a trap, and societies become prisons and asylums. There is a danger that we become as alienated and as fierce as the evil we think we are fighting.

That is what happened in Cuba under the Castro regime. In 1964, I was convicted of "conspiracy against the state," because I testified against the Castro government in a political trial, and I spent 20 years and 40 days in jail. I don't regret my time there, because I was defending this essential respectability of the human person.

Recently, on a radio talk show, I was asked what should happen to Elián González, the child caught in the middle of an international custody dispute. I said that this case should never have been turned into a political issue.

The child was a survivor of a shipwreck, found in the sea. He should be given back immediately to his nearest responsible relative, who in this case is his father, who had never denied or refused his right and duty. I also said this case could set a very dangerous legal precedent, which would affect custody cases of children in the United States and all over the world.

Overwhelming publicity and a morbid limitless emotional exaltation on both shores of the Florida Strait have stirred up the worst of our political passions. This is no good for either side.

Cuba has survived civil conflict before, and Cuba will continue to exist after this conflict is over. But the principles that allowed man to escape from savagery and organize rational society must be kept -- no matter how passionately we may want a certain political outcome.

And I say this, knowing that I also will continue to be involved in the civil conflicts of my nation. But I will pass away, and Cuba will continue to be a part of mankind, with a universal responsibility in civilization.

Jorge Valls is a poet.

Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company

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