Elian Gonzalez

* Re “Two Nations Tug at 5-Year-Old Survivor,” Nov. 30: Elian Gonzalez should be returned to Cuba to his father’s custody. I don’t believe that the U.S. family members are really thinking about the boy’s welfare but rather about their own political views on Cuba. How could it benefit a 5-year-old to be pulled away from everything he has known, be part of a very public battle against both his father and country and be forced to live with relatives whom he may have never met?

I have to agree with some Cuban officials in saying that I think one of the biggest motivators for these people to leave Cuba illegally is greed. These immigrants are risking their lives and the lives of others so they can own a nice car and participate in the “American Dream.” Who are we to say how or where a father should bring up his child? Where then do we draw the line in how much say our government has in not only our lives but in the life of a child from another country?

MELISSA D. ROLL

Long Beach

* No matter what justification his Miami relatives or America gives to keep Elian here, the simple bottom line is that this 5-year-old child’s mother is dead, so he should be sent to his father. It strikes me as either arrogant or ignorant to use political motivations, legal technicalities and emotional pleas to override the basic right of a father to raise his own child.

CURT MATSUNE

Walnut