By ANITA SNOW, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA (AP) - With Fidel Castro in the wings, Elian Gonzalez was shown on state television Tuesday night reading the book that the Cuban president gave him to commemorate the boy's successful completion of first grade.
As the camera panned over the dedication that the Cuban leader wrote to Elian in the ``The Golden Age,'' a children's book by Cuban independence hero Jose Marti, Castro's voice could be heard in the background reading it aloud.
``For when you are in the fourth or fifth grade and can enjoy one of the most tender works of Marti,'' Castro read off-camera. It was signed, ``Affectionately, Fidel Castro.''
But Castro himself was never shown during the 45-minute program on Elian's life in Cuba since his return on June 28.
Opponents of Elian's return to Cuba had predicted that Castro would parade the boy around like a poster boy for the revolutionary government.
That hasn't occurred. But there have been television images of Elian laughing and swimming in a pool, Elian singing Cuba's national anthem, Elian writing his cursive letters on a blackboard and in a composition book, Elian dancing with maracas, Elian placing yellow gladiolas at a bronze statue
of Marti.
Cuba state media on Saturday revealed very few details when they reported last week's meeting between the 73-year-old head of state and the 6-year-old boy. It was the first reported reunion of the pair since Elian's repatriation.
Castro had promised that Cuba would avoid a media circus upon Elian's return to Cuba. He was even conspicuously absent at the boy's airport homecoming.
Since then, Elian has been kept away from the media in a house in west Havana, where the child, his family and a group of classmates and teachers have been living.
State television reported Friday night that Elian had received his first-grade diploma after a special effort by teachers to help him recover the time lost during his tumultuous stay in the United States.
Although the government initially said that Elian and his family would take a week's holiday after the boy completed his studies, uniformed police Tuesday continued to block all traffic around the house - an indication that they may still be there.
The government initially said that after the weeklong vacation, the Gonzalez family was to return to their home in Cardenas, a small port city two-hours east of Havana.
Elian survived a boat sinking that killed his mother and 10 others.
After the child was rescued on Nov. 25, he became the subject of an international custody dispute between his father in Cuba and their relatives in the United States, who fought unsuccessfully all the way to the Supreme Court to block his repatriation. |