Published Thursday, July 6, 2000, in the Miami Herald
Elián's father decorated as national hero in Cuba
Herald Staff Report.
HAVANA -- Juan Miguel González was decorated as a national hero here Wednesday night, for his ``extraordinary'' behavior during the seven-month battle to return his son Elián to Cuba.
The honor came one day after the government took 6-year-old Elián to his hometown of Cárdenas for a swim with his family and a visit with his classmates -- an attempt to show the little boy that he was really back in Cuba after his stay in the United States.
According to a Cuban government statement Wednesday, Elián asked his father days after his arrival on the island last week: When will we travel to Cuba?
The little boy was confused, the Cuban daily Granma explained, because for Elián Cuba is Cárdenas -- a two-hour drive from the waterfront Havana mansion where he has been studying and staying with his family since he arrived from Washington, D.C., on June 28.
The report sparked debate among Cubans here, where news of Elián's activities has been sparse.
Not once since his arrival has Cuban TV showed the Miramar residence where he has been staying.
``The boy still doesn't know where he is. He's in the clouds,'' said Ramón Menéndez, 50, a Havana shoe repairman, who believes the boy needs this time of rest away from everyday life.
``He's still traumatized,'' said Francisco Molina, who runs El Vedado fruit stand.
Jorge Ramírez, a central Havana doctor, speculated there might be another reason: Elián's life since he returned to Cuba has been similar to the way he lived in the United States, in a highly secured compound with luxury goods.
``He can't see the difference between the U.S. and Cuba,'' Ramírez said.
Ramírez, like hundreds of Cubans, stood in line Wednesday morning to buy a copy of a special edition tabloid called: Elián in the Homeland -- 32 pages of analysis and reports of the seven-month battle to return the boy.
``I think now, from this moment on, the United States government will respect us even more and will believe that it is a fraud to give . . . unconditional approval to the mafia,'' an opening column read. The Cuban government refers to exiles in Miami as the ``mafia.''
The report shed little light on Elián's new life. And although Cuban journalists interviewed psychologists who had dissected the boy's mental state from afar, none could say how the boy was doing now.
``Simply, no one knows . . . how he is after his kidnappers were trying for 140 days to change his mind,'' an editorial note said.
Though the tabloid was full of pictures, including 17 of Elián shot during his stay in Miami, none showed him smiling. Also notably missing in the detailed report is the famous Associated Press photo of a federal agent pointing a gun at Elián during the April 22 raid in Little
Havana.
The report did have a column thanking Cuban president Fidel Castro for leading the campaign to ``liberate Elián,'' and biographies of the other players in the case.
The tabloid described them this way:
Elián's cousin Marisleysis González, a onetime bank officer, who with all the attention could be an aspiring Miss Universe candidate.
Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, an emissary of the "devil."
Cuban American National Foundation leader Jorge Mas Santos, who, the report said, could be categorized in two words: political defeat.
Also profiled in the section was Juan Miguel González, who at a 9 p.m. Wednesday ceremony at Havana's Karl Marx theater received the award named for Carlos Manuel de Céspedes, the ``Father of the Homeland'' who led the first Cuban war of independence.
The report portrayed González as a humble man of few words. His battle is described as one of good over evil, truth over lies.
The error of Elián's great-uncle Lázaro González ``was to believe his nephew Juan Miguel had a price, as [Lázaro] does. The mafia's error was to believe that all men have a price like Lázaro,'' the report said.
Twenty-five Cubans found on Marathon
By Herald Online Staff . mbaro@herald.com
Twenty-five Cubans are in the custody of the U.S. Border Patrol this morning after landing in the Florida Keys.
The nine men, six women, eight girls and two boys made landfall near Veteran's Park in Marathon around 4:50 a.m., according to Border Patrol spokesman Joe Mellia.
The Monroe County Sheriff's Department found the immigrants and alerted Border Patrol.
All appeared to be in good health. The group said it left Matanzas, Cuba on Monday around 9 p.m., Mellia said.
The Cubans said they were smuggled on a gray, 30-foot fishing boat. Individual accounts varied on how much they paid to be smuggled -- from several hundred Cuban pesos to several hundred U.S. dollars.
The Border Patrol did not find the boat used in the alleged smuggling and did not arrest anyone for smuggling, Mellia said.
The immigrants will be taken to Krome Detention Center later today after they are processed at the Border Patrol station in Pembroke Pines.
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