To the editor:

In response to Benjamin Studenski’s letter on April 25, why should Janet Reno resign?

She handled a difficult situation in the best way possible.

The court ordered Elian’s relatives in Miami to release him, and the relative deliberately broke the law with impunity.

Elian’s relatives made it clear that they were not going to give him up, and they had a whole community to back them up in that decision.

If Reno had sent in a force like the Daily suggested in its April 24 issue there would have almost assuredly been violence and bloodshed.

The throng outside the house would have become aware of any effort to extract Elian from his Miami relatives, and they would have opposed it; that is after all why they were there, and the riots afterwards show that they were capable of violence.

To those who think that Elian was traumatized by the way in which he was retrieved, what do you think a full-scale riot with him in the middle of it would have done to his mental and physical well being?

Armed men raiding private homes raise my hackles just like anyone else’s, especially if they were sent by the government, but in this case there was no other alternative.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents regularly raid private homes — which are in many cases inhabited by children — suspected of harboring illegal drugs, and yet no one argues that this is a wrong course of action.

I know there will be some people who will argue that Elian’s case and drug cases have nothing in common, but how so?

The Miami relatives were breaking the law, and instead of guns they had something much more deadly, the awesome and unreasoning power of the masses.

While Elian’s mother’s wishes should be respected she is, regrettably, dead.

Elian’s father’s wishes and rights supersede any that the mother may have had, and he has two undeniable ones, the right to choose where he wants to live and the right to his child. Elian also has a right, the right to be with his father.

While some may not like Cuba, there are those who do. If Elian may arguably have a better life in America, well, children living in a ghetto or a slum may have a better life living in a middle-class suburb, yet that is no excuse to take them away from their parents.

We often forget that our public officials are human also. While often times they are petty and selfish, they can show streaks of integrity and honesty.

The government, media and Miami relatives have all made this whole situation with Elian harder on him than it needed to be.

What should have been a simple case of returning a child to his father turned into a sideshow.

A little boy’s well-being was overlooked in this national spectacle, and someone had to pay the price for that.

Knowing full well that the house in Miami was a hotbed of media attention, Janet Reno still ordered the extraction of Elian.

She is no idiot; she knew full well that the operation would be looked on unfavorably by the American public, but because it was the right thing to do, she did it. Now Reno has been left with a bill of blame for these last months of shenannigans and people are crying out for her resignation.

Well, Mrs. Reno, I, for one, am glad that you have the integrity to do what is right, and I’m glad that we have someone like you as the Attorney General.

Enrique Anaya

Freshman

Computer engineering