The 1976 Constitution of the Republic of Cuba is resolved to build socialism and, led by the Communist Party, to build a communist society. The infraction of this article is punishable. Blas Roca, Secretary General of the Communist Party, as President of the National Assembly, oversaw the passage of the Code of the Child and Youth. You merits and demerits are minutely recorded and form the basis for your opportunities to obtain a higher education. This is persecution pure and simple and on a daily basis.
Persecution is a recognized basis for asylum.
The position taken by the Clinton administration's Department of Justice as pieced together from their statements and logical legal reasoning is to establish whether Juan Gonzalez is in fact, the father of Elian, and then apply the law of the jurisdiction of which the subjects are nationals, that is Cuba. As in all Marxist regimes contradictory laws reign supreme since there is no judicial review. Presumably in the INS's view this would establish Elian's father's right to speak for him regardless of the fact that the main body of Cuba's law and practice reduces parental rights to mere vestiges. In fact it renders parents nannies for the State. There may also be coercion that precludes Elian's father from speaking freely and revealing his true desires.