If being denied a legal defense, convicted on a prosecutor's case alone without being allowed to present his case, and having key defense evidence completely ignored isn't enough outrage and wrongful enough to be considered violating one's civil rights, then let's add limiting visit times from 8 hours on Sundays to just 25 minutes, denial of a 2 hour pastoral visit, death threats from drunken guards, and physical separation from human contact to the heap. The 25 minute limit is even more shocking when it is revealed that it was Alden's mother who flew in from England who was denied a full visit! Craig Eliot is suffering in his prison cell in central, rural Brazil.

The limiting of the mother's visit? This should raise eyebrows all around the world. Tony Blair, where are you? Jack Straw, where have you run off to? President Lula, just exactly what is going through your mind to allow this ridiculous travesty of justice and civil rights abuse to continue to have a life of its own in your country?

This is a grand opportunity for South America's strongest economic power to step up, admit they made a mistake, and do the right thing, yet they delay, stall, and remain confused and bedazzled on just exactly what should done to move things along.

There is an old US Civil War story that has several union generals on horseback at a river bank discussing and speculating just exactly how deep a river was that the army was about to cross. After some time, a bold young officer lost his patience and rode his horse out into the river, and with the water level acceptable for a ford declared, "This generals...this is how deep the river is."

This is what President Lula must do. He must say to the world "This is how we make a wrong into a right in Brasil", and then sign the document releasing Craig Eliot Alden.

To learn more about this case, go to http://www.freecraigalden.com/

This article can be republished as long as the author's bio is included with it.

Ronald Nordquist is an American and a language expert living in Brazil, operating a small business together with his Brazilian wife. They have a 2 year old son. He has an MBA from Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan and a web site at http://myweb.ecomplanet.com/bttu3570/ He wants to return to the USA.