The recent frantic scramble for freedom by thousands of Cubans via the Peruvian embassy and in chaotically dispatched boats is an eruption of long-simmering anguish, not a sudden, new development. But the island might just as well be in the China Sea as ninety miles from the U.S., considering how little is known or acknowledged about life under the Revolution. There are several reasons for the misconceptions that have prevailed these twenty years. Castro's brilliantly orchestrated propaganda managed to conceal the darker realities, while in the U.S. the shrillness of right-wing attacks detracted from their credibility. Then there were the leftists, most of whom regarded Cuba as sacred territory: One did not dare criticize Castro's regime for fear of dooming revolution elsewhere.

lonas Jurasas, director of The Suicide now on Broadway, formerly headed the State Theatre of Kaunas in his native Lithuania. After his Moscow production of Macbeth was banned, he wrote an open letter to the Ministry of Culture in protest. He was immediately stripped of his position and, two years later, was permitted to emigrate together with his wife and son.

Amerasians are the forgotten people of America's vaunted human rights policy. Amerasians are the unwanted product of illicit liaisons between American servicemen and Asian women, primarily bar girls. It is difficult to estimate accurately the number of neglected Amerasians left behind in Asia. Many thousands were born in Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Vietnam, the Philippines, and Thailand. Precise figures are hard to get because neither the Asian families nor the governments involved like to advertise what is for them a matter of shame. In one country, Cambodia, it is unlikely that any Amerasians survived the genocidal Khmer Rouge purification campaign. Fortunately, American forces were not in Cambodia long enough for them to produce large numbers of Amerasians.