By Deborah Sharp. USA TODAY. April 12, 2000
Once-popular Miami native is now a target of protester hostility
MIAMI -- As Janet Reno made moves to place Elian Gonzalez into the hands of his father, protesters here left little doubt who they feel is the villain in the saga of the Cuban boy.
Outside the Little Havana home where the 6-year-old has been living with relatives, the once-popular Miami native and former state attorney is the target of chants that are becoming as common as those against Fidel Castro.
''I've lost all respect for Janet Reno,'' says protester Lesley Silverio, 23, a Cuban-American law student at the University of Miami. ''Janet Reno talks about upholding the law. She's the one violating the law.''
Many here believe Reno's stance that only the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, can speak for his son violates Elian's legal right as a Cuban refugee to political asylum.
Reno was to travel today to Miami as part of efforts to transfer custody from the Miami relatives to the boy's father, who arrived in the USA last week. Those plans were later put on hold.
The boy's mother died when a refugee boat capsized, and Elian was rescued at sea last Thanksgiving. The Miami relatives have resisted the transfer of custody and want Elian to stay here.
Reno ''can't be that naive to not know what that kid will go through when he goes back to Cuba,'' says Cuban-born protester Oscar Madrigal, 37. ''There is no freedom. You've got people in jail just for speaking their minds.''
There is anger that Reno's federal ruling to reunite father and son effectively derailed a state court case that could have given Elian's custody a hearing in family court.
Supporters of the Miami family's fight to keep Elian in the USA have gathered almost daily outside the Miami home since Jan. 5, when the Immigration and Naturalization Service announced that the boy belonged with his father in Cuba.
The number of protesters varies, from a handful to several hundred. Monday night, thousands of demonstrators marched through the Little Havana neighborhood in a prayerful vigil for the boy.
''A drug dealer has more rights than this little boy,'' says Michel Reyes, 24, who has spent several nights sleeping on the ground outside the home. He lost his hotel clerk's job after his boss saw him at the protests on TV.
Anti-Reno signs abound: ''Reno blunders: Ruby Ridge. Waco, Tx. Miami?'' one says. Reno has been criticized for violent clashes between federal authorities in Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and near Waco, Texas. Another sign says, ''Reno, Clinton, Do You Remember Me?'' over a picture of the Statue of Liberty
shedding a tear.
As the boy's return to Cuba seems to near, some here are saddened and resigned. Students from the Lincoln-Marti private school, where Elian was enrolled shortly after his Nov. 25 rescue, brought a card to the house Tuesday.
''Elian, I will miss you,'' one child wrote. ''I will always remember you.'' |