By Anne E. Kornblut, Globe Staff. Boston Globe, 4/1/2000
WASHINGTON - Of all the questions still surrounding the case of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez, one will loom larger than the rest if his father flies from Cuba to retrieve his son: Might Juan Miguel Gonzalez try to defect to the United States?
He has shown no signs of wanting to. But given the extraordinary reason for his trip, as well as the attention paid even to relatively benign visits by Cuban citizens, both sides are wondering whether he might. US officials are prepared to help him if he does.
At the same time, Cuban leader Fidel Castro appears to be taking all precautions to ensure that Gonzalez does not defect. In announcing plans to send the father to retrieve Elian, Castro listed about 30 members of the community who he hoped would travel to the United States, too; some Cuban
exiles say these travel companions would be Cuban officials acting to guarantee that Gonzalez returns home.
The effects on diplomatic relations notwithstanding, the prospect of a defection by Gonzalez raises serious logistical questions and has commenced a delicate dance between Castro and US officials trying to work out an arrangement for the father and son to be reunited on US soil.
The Clinton administration cannot explicitly offer Gonzalez asylum at this stage, a legal analyst said, even though that would reconcile two conflicting US goals: reuniting Elian with his father and helping to free him from Castro's closed society.
Nor could Gonzalez suggest, even remotely, that defection is his true intent - if that were the case, which his lawyer says is not.
''I don't have any basis to believe that Juan Miguel wants to defect or wants to live in the United States,'' attorney Gregory B. Craig said yesterday on NBC's ''Today.'' But, Craig added: ''If he does, I hope he has the freedom, and I expect he has the freedom to make that choice.''
In fact, the Immigration and Naturalization Service has mechanisms for ensuring that freedom. Whenever a large Cuban delegation travels to the United States, the INS is always ''aware'' of the possibility that some members might want to seek asylum and often is ready to help in their effort, an
official said.
Last year, when Cuban baseball players traveled to Baltimore, INS officials were on hand to field any political asylum requests. The Baltimore police were given instructions on handling would-be defectors.
Asylum-seekers usually travel through more personal channels, relying on family and friends to guide them toward US officials once they arrive here. But in unusual circumstances such as this, in which Florida law enforcement officials have warned of the potential for violence, the INS would be
prepared to ensure Gonzalez's safety, spokesman Bill Strassberger said.
''If protection was required, of course we would work with other law enforcement agencies to make sure that was available,'' he said.
The logistics of a defection, of course, would be complicated by the amount of attention his visit would generate, as well as by the psychological pressures of having so many fellow Cubans with him on the trip, said Mariela Ferretti, a spokeswoman for the Cuban American National Foundation. It
would be difficult for him, for example, to simply approach a police officer in the street and announce his intentions.
Because even though Gonzalez has applied to travel here with his wife and their 4-year-old child - diminishing his need to return home - he would most likely be accompanied by a Cuban security officer, as baseball players are, and the presence of security would ''create considerable obstacles''
to any potential flight, she said.
''Their physical presence is intimidating enough for Cubans,'' said Ferretti. ''That is the way the system creates fear inside of people.''
Yet no US official would dare approach Gonzalez to suggest he break away, Strassberger said. The role of the INS is ''not to solicit asylum applications at all,'' he said.
''That's something the person must come forward and seek themselves,'' he said. ''We cannot presuppose that someone wants to seek asylum. There are plenty of people that are in less than desirable conditions that are very happy there.''
This story ran on page A03 of the Boston Globe on 4/1/2000.
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