Posted 10:45 a.m. Tuesday, April 18, 2000. Elian's Saga.
Ruling on Elian's departure looms
By Jay Weaver, Andres Viglucci And Karen Branch. jweaver@herald.com
The tense wait continued this morning as a federal appeals court in Atlanta kept Miami, Washington and Havana in suspense over whether it would issue an order temporarily barring Elian Gonzalez's removal from this country.
By late morning today, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had not responded to a request by Elian's Miami relatives, who want the boy to remain in the United States until their pending federal appeal is concluded. The Atlanta court's decision could come later today.
While everyone waited, the Miami relatives and the government continued to issue claims and counterclaims about the other sides' actions in the 5-month-old custody dispute.
Lawyers for the relatives released a statement again defending Lazaro Gonzalez against government statements that he acted illegally in defying its order to surrender the boy last week. The lawyers contend Elian's great-uncle is not obligated to deliver the boy to the Immigration and
Naturalization Service. The INS, meanwhile, released a letter by a key advisor to the government that calls the Gonzalez household in Little Havana ``psychologically abusive'' and urges immediate action by the government to remove Elian.
Dr. Irwin Redlener, president of The Children's Hospital at Montefiore in New York City, said that he was disturbed by the family's release of a home video in which a gesticulating Elian addresses his father and says he does not want to return to Cuba.
`HOSTAGE SITUATION'
``I got very alarmed,'' said Redlener, a pediatrician who has advised INS Commissioner Doris Meissner through the Elian battle. ``I spoke to many experts across the country about it. It was a coached videotape reminiscent of what you see in a hostage situation.
``The videotape is the final straw and a very clear indicator that this boy is being subjected to extraordinary pressures in that household.''
Redlener, who assembled the panel of three mental-health experts to interview Lazaro Gonzalez last week, said he was also worried by unsubstantiated, last-minute allegations by supporters of the Miami relatives that Elian's father physically abused the boy and his mother.
``We have a prolonged, painful separation from his father, and secondly, what has clearly been an unending negative diatribe about his father comng from people surrounding [Elian],'' Redlener said. ``He will have to resolve some very difficult emotional stresses having to do with relationship
with his father.''
In their statement defending Lazaro Gonzalez's actions, his attorneys suggested the government has ignored Elian's psychological needs by refusing to evaluate the appropriateness of returning him to his father. Lazaro and his family contend the boy is afraid of his father. ``We emphasize the
serious harm that confronts Elian if removed to Cuba and the further harm that would result from requiring Lazaro affirmatively to betray this child,'' the statement said.
STANCE UNCHANGED
The statement reiterated the relatives' position that it is the INS' job to come get the boy.
``Lazaro Gonzalez has not broken the law. To the contrary, he has unfailingly declared that he will not violate the law, a position he has confirmed in writing personally as well as through counsel,'' the statement said.
But legal experts say that, depending on how far Gonzalez is willing to carry out his defiance, he could face charges ranging from obstruction of justice to aiding and abetting and harboring an illegal alien.
Sanctions could range from civil penalties, such as mounting daily fines, to jail time.
Because Gonzalez no longer has legal custody of Elian, he might be subject to state kidnapping charges for keeping the boy over the father's objections, said Roy Kahn, a Miami criminal defense lawyer -- though he said it is unlikely prosecutors would step in.
The revocation of parole means the Miami relatives ``have no right to have the child kept from immigration. They have no authority to keep the child over objections of the father,'' Kahn said.
But he said Lazaro Gonzalez is a thin line away from a possible obstruction-of-justice charge, which probably would apply only if he interferes with federal agents coming to pick up the boy. Gonzalez has said he would step aside if agents came to his house for Elian.
LEGAL REPERCUSSIONS
Gonzalez would not be subject to contempt-of-court charges -- another possibility the government has contemplated -- unless a judge issues an order instructing him to surrender Elian, and he does not obey, Kahn said.
The petition being weighed by the Atlanta appeals court would keep Elian's father from returning to Cuba with the boy if the INS turns Elian over to him. It would not bar the INS from reuniting the two in the U.S.
As policy, the court of appeals would not disclose the names of the three judge on a panel reviewing the petition. The 12-justice appellate court itself has a reputation as being deferential to the government on immigration matters.
Monday afternoon, as the temperatures soared into the 90s, the crowd grew to about 200 outside the Gonzalez home in north Little Havana.
The demonstrators showed their support -- and frustration. The exile group Mothers Against Repression, dressed in black, led the crowd in prayers.
Bill reaches $1 million for Elian-related costs
By Tyler Bridges. tbridges@herald.com
The emotional tug of war over whether Elian Gonzalez should live in Miami or Cuba has cost the public $1 million, and the tab will get bigger, officials said Monday.
Miami taxpayers are bearing the largest burden because city police have been responsible for maintaining order in the Little Havana neighborhood where Elian lives with his relatives. Extra deployment of Miami Police -- the city's biggest single expense -- reached $807,000 in overtime and
compensatory time as of April 8, said Lt. William Schwartz, the department's spokesman. The money comes from the department's $6.7 million overtime budget.
The department's costs are rising rapidly. For the last three weeks, Miami police have had about 16 officers outside of the Little Havana home on overtime for 18 hours of the day, and eight officers on overtime for the midnight-to-6 a.m. shift, said Schwartz.
For about six days of the last two weeks, he added, the police department also has had a special force of about 50 officers in reserve near the home in case disturbances broke out.
Schwartz said the police department would seek federal reimbursement for its costs, but noted ``there's no guarantee we'll get it.''
The Miami Fire Department has spent $8,000 thus far, and its costs, too, are increasing rapidly. The department since Saturday has stationed a fire rescue unit that costs $100 per hour near the home of Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez, said Fire Chief Carlos Gimenez. The money is coming from
the department's $350,000 overtime budget.
``We'll be out there until this thing subsides,'' said Gimenez. ``We have to prepare for any eventuality.''
Other public entities -- including the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Florida Highway Patrol and the Miami Beach Police Department -- have incurred almost $193,000 in costs from the Elian case since the beginning of the year.
Included in the state's expenses were $55,000 in revenue lost in early January when Gov. Jeb Bush lifted the tolls in Miami-Dade and South Broward for four hours after a federal ruling prompted demonstrations by those opposed to 6-year-old Elian being taken from his great-uncle's home.
No costs were available Monday for Miami-Dade County -- mainly for police and corrections -- or the federal government.
FEDS BLAMED
Miami Mayor Joe Carollo blamed the federal government for the $1 million tab.
``This is not our doing,'' said Carollo. ``This is the doing of federal policies. All we're doing is what local law enforcement has to do.''
The biggest costs lately came last week when Attorney General Janet Reno flew to Miami to meet with Lazaro Gonzalez in Miami Beach. Many thought federal officials would try to take Elian from his home the next day, which prompted a beefed-up law enforcement presence.
The highway patrol put its local troop on Alpha Bravo alert that next day, meaning half the force was on and half was off. That cost $20,000, said Maj. Ken Howes, a patrol spokesman. (In January, on the same day the tolls were lifted, the highway patrol spent $60,000, mostly in extra salaries.)
MIAMI BEACH EXPENSES
Miami Beach Police kept protesters and the media at bay outside of the home of Barry University President Sister Jeanne Laughlin while Reno met with Lazaro Gonzalez and his representatives. The department's overtime bill thus far is $1,700, as only the initial claims have been filed, said John
Babcock, the police department's record keeper.
Babcock said that when Miami Beach police were deployed outside Sister Jeanne's home when Elian met with his grandmothers in January, the bill was $27,000.
The FDLE has spent $25,000 in redeploying its officers to handle Elian matters, said Al Dennis, an agency spokesman.
Trips by Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas and Miami Mayor Joe Carollo to Washington, D.C., to meet with Reno in January and again this month will cost taxpayers about $4,000.
Penelas' spokesman, Juan Mendieta, said Penelas got phone calls from constituents questioning the use of public funds after each trip.
Mendieta said Penelas wanted to meet with Reno personally on the latest trip because Delfin Gonzalez, Lazaro's brother, was supposed to accompany the mayors but was unable to at the last minute.
Mendieta also noted that Penelas on the trip met with a federal transportation official, a senator and U.S. Rep. Carrie Meek, D-Miami, on county transportation issues.
Cuban TV shows house where Elian would stay
Havana residence also for school
For the first time, Cuba's state-run television Monday night showed the house in Havana where Elian Gonzalez is expected to stay after his ``eventual'' return.
The state-owned house, normally used by a youth group that has been involved in organizing rallies for Elian's return, would function as both home and school for the boy, as well as 12 classmates, relatives, doctors and psychologists.
A psychologist quoted in the report said the boy would need time apart from the public -- likely three months or longer -- to readjust after the ``trauma'' he has endured.
``This transition is necessary,'' said Lesbia Canovas, the psychologist. ``Our hope is that he be turned over fully to his school.
CAROLLO WANTS PROBE
Miami Mayor Joe Carollo asked Attorney General Janet Reno on Monday to investigate an attack on about a dozen protesters by staff from the Cuban Interests Section Friday in Washington, D.C.
The protesters, who were calling for Elian Gonzalez to be allowed to remain with his Miami relatives, told The Herald that about eight men emerged from the Cuban Interests Section and charged at them. One woman was body-slammed and then she and others were chased into the street, they said. The
fight was unprovoked, they said.
A uniformed Secret Service officer said Cuban government employees were worried about staff members trying to enter the front of the building. They went to the gate to ensure their safety and a pushing match ensued. No arrests were made.
No one in the interests section could be reached Monday.
The attorney general promised to investigate and asked Carollo to gather information.
Late Monday, Carollo said he may travel to Washington today to look into the matter.
PHONY PRESS BADGES
A batch of phony press badges are drawing attention in the media village outside Elian's Little Havana home.
``Camp Elian,'' the laminated blue badges say, and then follow in Spanish: Prensa, Republica de Banana (Press, Banana Republic), which many consider pejorative to Miami's political climate.
Freelance camera crew Bruce Bernstein and Chuck Stewart, on assignment in Little Havana for NBC, sold them for $5 each.
The pair is often dispatched to hot news spots around the world, and sometimes sell T-shirts and gag gifts to make light of dreary situations. In Bogota, they once made T-shirts that read: Prensa, No Dispare. (Press, Don't Shoot).
TIRES FLATTENED
A vigilant activist noticed a Dodge Durango with a U.S. government license plate in the Little Havana neighborhood and decided to do his part in safeguarding Elian.
So he poked holes in the tires.
But the only thing it stopped was a tired reporter from getting home early. The SUV belonged to the crew of Radio and TV Marti.
KEEPING THE DAY JOB
Reporters outside Elian's house were puzzled Monday morning when they couldn't find the always-present, always-quoteable Armando Gutierrez, the relatives' spokesman and gatekeeper.
``Been trying to attend to other business,'' said Gutierrez, who earns his living as a political consultant.
Herald staff writers Ana Acle, Manny Garcia, Karen Branch and Marika Lynch and Herald wire services contributed to this report.
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