By Meg Richards. .c The Associated Press
MIAMI, 21 (AP) - A Roman Catholic nun who had been acting as a neutral arbitrator in the Elian Gonzalez custody dispute changed her stance when she says she discovered that one of the boy's grandmothers wanted to defect.
Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, the president of Barry University, altered her thinking on the boy's future after she met with the grandmothers at the nun's home in Miami Beach last month.
According to Michele Morris, a spokeswoman for Barry, one of the factors that prompted O'Laughlin to begin advocating that Elian remain with his relatives in Florida was after one of the grandmothers said she wanted to defect.
Also, O'Laughlin was told by people she trusted that Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, and his family knew about the voyage to Florida 10 days before the boat left Cuba, Morris said Sunday.
``This talk of defecting got me to thinking; if one of the adults wanted out, perhaps it was not a good place for the child,'' O'Laughlin told The Miami Herald on Sunday.
The Herald reported that one of the grandmothers told O'Laughlin directly that she wanted to defect. But O'Laughlin said Sunday in a statement that ``unfortunately the article had some misinformation. I never met with the grandmothers alone.''
``While some of the specifics noted in the Herald contributed to my decision, it is untrue that I heard any of that from the grandmothers. Any information attributed to them came from other sources,'' the statement said.
The Herald's executive editor, Martin Baron, said in a statement Sunday: ``We can say without hesitation that our story was an accurate account of what Sister Jeanne told us.''
Elian was found clinging to an inner tube on Thanksgiving Day off the Florida coast. His mother and 10 others traveling with him in an effort to flee Cuba drowned.
There was no immediate reaction from Elian's family in Cuba or from the Cuban government. O'Laughlin has been attacked by the Cuban media since saying Elian should stay with his relatives in Miami.
When O'Laughlin first told reporters she had changed her mind about remaining neutral, she said she believed Elian had bonded with his 21-year-old cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez. She also said she sensed fear emanating from the grandmothers, which she believed was caused by the Cuban government.
Elian is currently staying with relatives in Miami. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service has ruled in favor of his return to Cuba and to his father, but Elian's U.S. relatives are challenging that decision in federal court.
A Miami judge was scheduled to hear arguments Tuesday to decide whether the court has jurisdiction in the case. U.S. District Judge William M. Hoeveler, was hospitalized Sunday and Chief U.S. District Judge Edward B. Davis said he will take over the hearing.
AP-NY-02-21-00 0654EST
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