Carl Hiaasen . Published Wednesday, April 26, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Lazaro and his family can't credibly claim to be surprised by Reno's raid because they basically dared her to do it.
On April 12, shortly after meeting face-to-face with Attorney General Janet Reno, Lazaro Gonzalez made the following declaration about his great-nephew Elian:
``Our position is we will not turn over the child -- anywhere,'' he said. The government ``will have to take this child from me by force.''
Thus, Lazaro Gonzalez and his handlers set the scene for what happened in the pre-dawn hours last Saturday. By their own obstinance, they brought INS agents thundering into that house as surely as if they'd sent out engraved invitations.
By force. Lazaro's words, not Reno's. ``Force'' doesn't mean saying please, pretty please, open the door. It means large, impatient men with badges and guns -- a harrowing three minutes for Elian and everyone inside that house.
And they're right: It didn't need to happen. Up until the final hours, Lazaro and his family could have avoided the whole ugly mess.
The contention that Reno acted just as negotiations were reaching a last-minute breakthrough is not borne out by correspondence released in the raid's aftermath.
What's plainly evident is Lazaro Gonzalez's resistance to budge on two key demands of the Justice Department:
That the reunion between Elian and Juan Miguel Gonzalez be held in the Washington, D.C., area, and that the boy be physically transferred into his father's care before the two families settled into a joint living arrangement.
Hours before the raid, Lazaro and his relatives continued to insist that Juan Miguel come to Miami and move with them into a neutral dwelling until all legal appeals were exhausted.
``We understand that you have transfered temporary custody of Elian to his father,'' family members wrote in a fax to Reno. Significantly, however, they didn't specifically agree to turn over Elian to Juan Miguel.
The bottom line: They refused to let go of a child they loved, but to whom they had no legal claim.
Armed with a ruling from U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore, the U.S. government had revoked Lazaro's temporary custody. A state judge had agreed that the case belonged with the INS, not in family court.
``Elian Gonzalez's physical presence in this country is at the discretion of the federal government,'' ruled Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Jennifer Bailey on April 13.
In tossing out the lawsuit filed by Lazaro Gonzalez against Juan Miguel, Bailey also said that, under Florida law, a great-uncle was too distant a relative to petition to keep Elian.
The later ruling by a U.S. appeals court ordering the child to remain in the country dealt solely with the Miami family's request for an asylum hearing -- not the issue of custody.
After Lazaro refused to give up the child, Reno was legally empowered to act at any time. Many people think she went too far; I think she waited too long.
One thing is certain: Lazaro Gonzalez had plenty of opportunities to avoid that traumatic pre-dawn confrontation.
Weeks ago, he and his family were given a chance to accompany Elian to Washington, D.C., and reunite privately with Juan Miguel Gonzalez. Lazaro said no.
Soon afterward, Reno flew to Miami and personally reiterated a similar offer, and again Lazaro refused. He was then given another deadline to comply with the INS order and voluntarily deliver the child. He rejected it.
To fervently adhere to one's principles can be noble, unless the result is willfully placing another man's child in harm's way.
That's what Lazaro did to Elian, and it was both reckless and unnecessary. He'll be lucky if Juan Miguel lets him visit his great-nephew again.
Lazaro and his family can't credibly claim to be surprised by Reno's raid because they basically dared her to do it. They knew she would; everybody did. The whole neighborhood was on alert, which is why the agents came heavily armed.
Even Miami Mayor Joe Carollo figured it out. After speaking to Reno on April 20, he said, ``They are serious about doing this . . . it's just a matter of when.''
The 11th-hour negotiations, conducted by earnest intermediaries, had no chance of success as long as Lazaro wouldn't agree to transfer Elian into his father's care.
Reno could have waited longer, and set more deadlines, but the standoff was always doomed to end the way it did.
By force.
Exactly how it was scripted, in Lazaro's own words.
Copyright 2000 Miami Herald |