By Jody A. Benjamin Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 9:43 a.m. Apr. 11, 2000
MIAMI -- As the federal government pushed ahead with its plan to reunite Elián Gonzalez with his father this week, a sense of gloom settled over the Cuban exile community.
At a Monday evening candlelight vigil in Little Havana, the angry talk of street protests gave way to prayer. Earlier in the day, exile leader Ramon Saul Sanchez asked for divine intervention to keep the 6-year-old from being taken back to Cuba.
Sanchez' tone, like that of many exile leaders and protesters in recent days, began to turn from defiance to resignation. Instead of talking about street blockades as he did last week, Sanchez spoke of trying to help the community cope with a possible loss.
"We are praying to God that he intercedes so that Elián may remain here," said Sanchez, the key protest organizer in the battle to keep the boy in the United States. "But if Elián is taken away from Miami there will be a lot of pain here to cope with. We also need
to prepare for that."
"There is a lot of sadness in the streets of Miami today," he said.
While recent rallies in support of the Miami family of Elián Gonzalez have taken on a more pessimistic tone, it remained unclear how the community would respond if federal agents use force to remove the boy from his Little Havana home.
Demonstrators at the house in the 2300 block of Northwest Second Street have promised to form a human chain to prevent the government from taking Elián. However, Sanchez, president of the Democracy Movement exile group, said he was "planning to exercise whatever influence we have"
over demonstrators to assure nonviolence.
On Saturday, Miami police arrested exile leader Miguel Saavedra for leading a caravan of cars through Little Havana that tied up traffic. He was released Sunday.
"The people are very angry, very frustrated," said Saavedra, of the organization Vigilia Mambisa. "But we don't want any violence. Nobody can find a solution at the moment."
On Monday evening, thousands gathered at Northwest 22nd Avenue and First Street in Little Havana, waving Cuban and American flags. After singing the Cuban and American national anthems, they bowed their heads in prayer.
"God was the one who made the child survive in the middle of the sea," said Juan Ramon Garcia, a missionary with Christ the King Mission who attended the vigil. "If ever there was a time for a miracle, this is the time."
Jody A. Benjamin can be reached at 954-356-4530 or jbenjamin@sun-sentinel.com.
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