POLITICS-CUBA/US: Elian’s Father Awaits His Son in Washington DC

By Patricia Grogg Reprint | | Print |

Patricia Grogg

HAVANA, Apr 6 2000 (IPS) - It is only a question of time for Juan Miguel González, father of the shipwrecked Cuban boy, who arrived in the US capital Thursday to claim custody of his child who has lived with relatives in Miami for more the last 137 days.

Cuban president Fidel Castro bid the elder González farewell at the Havana airport, and later stated that the boy’s return is likely to occur within 10 to 60 days.

“I wait with true impatience form them to return my son to me as soon as possible, and I would like to go back to Cuba with him immediately,” González said in a message to the US public upon arriving in Washington DC with his second wife, Nercy Carmenate, and their six-month-old son, Hianny.

Elián, now age six, survived the sinking of a boat that his mother, Elizabeth Brotons, had secretly boarded with her son in Cuba in an attempt to illegally emigrate to the United States. Brotons and her second husband perished in the accident along with nine other passengers.

The boy floated for two days in the Florida straits, strapped to an inner-tube, before he was rescued by a Florida-based fishing boat last Nov 25. He was turned over the next day to his great- uncle Lázaro González, a resident of Miami, bastion of anti-Castro Cuban exile community.

Since then, Elián’s father has unsuccessfully demanded the boy’s repatriation in gestures supported by the Castro government.

Fernando Remírez de Estenoz, chief of the Cuban Interests Section in the United States, announced that diplomatic immunity of his residence had been lifted in order to prevent such status from being used as a “pretext” by those who oppose handing the boy over to an official institution of the Castro government.

US television networks reported that the four-story building located in Bethesda, Maryland, a residential area outside Washington DC, is under Secret Service protection.

The plan Castro announced Sunday and repeated Wednesday evening establishes that Elián’s family will stay at the residence during their US visit.

Eventually, 12 of Elián’s Cuban classmates, his cousin Yasmany Betancourt, two schoolteachers and several experts the government considers essential for the boy’s recovery will also stay at the residence, according to Castro.

But so far, the US State Department has only granted visas to Juan Miguel González and his wife, Elián’s half-brother, his cousin, a paediatrician and one of the two teachers. The remaining visa applications will be studied on a case-by-case basis, according to official statements.

“Despite what I have suffered since November 22 (the day Elián was taken from Cuba), I remain confident that US authorities will not permit (…) further harm to my son and my family, and I ask that they understand why I must be accompanied by the children and the people indicated,” said Elián’s father.

González called the possible two-month wait before he can bring Elián back to Cuba a “new and unfair delay,” and repeated that the individuals seeking visas are necessary to attend to his son’s well-being.

He listed among them “a leader of my country who, as a friend or brother, has stayed by me, advising me and supporting me in these days of pain and uncertainty.”

Though he did not mention the person by name, González was referring to Ricardo Alarcón, president of the Cuban National Assembly (Congress) and experienced negotiator in bilateral issues with the United States.

Gregory Craig, González’s lawyer, hopes that the arrival of his client in the United States will immediately start the process of transferring custody of the boy from the Miami relatives to the father.

González is willing to stay in the United States until he reaches his objective: that they return his son, announced Craig Wednesday evening upon his return from a 24-hour visit to Havana, where he finalised the details of the process now underway.

Meanwhile, the spokesman for Elian’s Miami relatives, Armando Gutiérrez, said the boy was moved from Lázaro González’s home to that of another relative, accompanied by his cousin Marisleysis, who is recovering after being hospitalised for “extreme exhaustion.”

The US Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) has been trying since late March to convince Lázaro González to make a written pledge that he will peacefully hand over the boy if the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta upholds the ruling that the boy should be repatriated to Cuba.

President Bill Clinton stated that the presence of Elián’s father in US territory is a positive step.

Threats of massive protests by Cuban exiles in Miami who are opposed to Elián’s repatriation have raised concern on the island about the psychological risks to the boy as long as he remains there.

“In recent days, the whole family has seen with alarm how passions are being exacerbated in Miami. We have seen dangerous scenes on television that make us fear for the safety of my son,” said Juan Miguel González in his message Thursday to the people of the United States.

In Havana, Castro believes that “the battle for Elián (…) has been won in legal, political and moral terms,” and it is now “inevitable” that the shipwrecked boy will be returned to his father.

“We will have to see how the US government resolves the problem of physically handing over the boy,” said Castro, who pointed out that Thursday was the final day for Lázaro González to return the boy “in good faith” to his father.

But he said he remains confident that everything will turn out well. Elián’s father will be advised by his attorney Craig and by Remírez de Estenoz, and will maintain contact with the island, said Castro.

The INS ruled Jan 5 that the boy should have been returned to his father before the 14th of that month. The decision has not only been ignored, but disobeyed by the González family in Miami, which has the strong support of anti-Castro exile groups.