By Lizette Alvarez, New York Times. Jan. 7, 2000
MIAMI, Jan. 6 -- Energized by a new cause, hundreds of Cuban-Americans shut down much of Miami today with waves of civil disobedience, temporarily blocking access to the Port of Miami and choking traffic on dozens of busy streets to protest the Clinton administration's decision to return
6-year-old Elián González to his father in Cuba.
About 135 protesters were arrested by riot police officers, who led most of them away peacefully in plastic handcuffs as the crowd chanted, "Libertád Elián, libertád Elián."
"What we are asking for is that this boy have his day in court, and that the boy's father come here to ask for his son without pressure from the Cuban government," said Jose Basulto, the founder of the Cuban exile group Brothers to the Rescue, before being taken into a police van.
By early evening, the disturbance spread from downtown Miami to other pockets, bringing many cars to a standstill at rush hour and leading Gov. Jeb Bush to suspend tolls on several major highways. Later, riot police fired tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters from one intersection.
In one incident, a commuter rammed a car through lines of demonstrators who were linking arms to block an intersection, knocking down two protesters, who were taken to a hospital. In another incident, a police officer hit by another motorist suffered broken bones.
On Wednesday, the Immigration and Naturalization Service ruled that the boy should be returned to his father in Cuba by Jan. 14. The decision came more than a month after the boat carrying Elián, his mother, his stepfather and 10 other people capsized en route to Miami. Ten of them died,
including his mother and stepfather. Elián's father, Juan González, said he had not known the boy was leaving the country and wanted him sent back.
In a sign that the boy's return to Cuba may not proceed as smoothly as the administration would like, lawyers for the boy said that immigration officials had not asked his Miami relatives to turn Elián over and that the relatives might not do so without a deportation order from the
Immigration and Naturalization Service.
"The I.N.S. doesn't want to do the dirty work of deporting the boy, and after not even being heard, we may not be inclined to help them," said Jose Garcia-Pedrosa, a lawyer representing the family. "There is no order to turn the boy over. We think they have to initiate
deportation."
An I.N.S. spokesman, Russ Bergeron, said the agency would not forcibly remove the boy, and added: "This is not a deportation. This is an attempt to honor the wishes of the father."
Elián's case has served as a clarion call for Cuban exiles here, a group that over the last decade has grown considerably older, wearier and more fractured since the death two years ago of one of its most vocal leaders, Jorge Mas Canosa.
But nothing unites Cuban-Americans like a good brawl with Fidel Castro, and this one carries just the right mix of politics and drama to embolden the community.
The same is true in Cuba, where Mr. Castro has used the case as a patriotic rallying cry to re-energize the Cuban people against Americans who have "kidnapped" the boy.
Emma Garcia, security director for Alpha 66, a paramilitary group that has sought for decades to overthrow Mr. Castro, said: "This has unified the community in the last few days. It has unified the community in Miami in an incredible way. People had grown distant from the cause. Time has
passed. People had lost their will, their enthusiasm. Now people are fighting shoulder to shoulder."
In Washington, Attorney General Janet Reno said today that she saw no basis for reversing the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to return the boy to his father in Cuba. But Ms. Reno said she could not absolutely rule out a change of mind "if any information we are not
privy to" comes to light.
Immigration officials interviewed Mr. González on two separate occasions, the first to listen to his plea that his son be returned, and the second to ensure that he truly wanted his son back in Cuba without pressure from Mr. Castro.
"We are satisfied he is speaking for himself," Ms. Reno said.
Mr. González has declined a American offer to pick up his son in Florida and has asked the I.N.S. to have the National Council of Churches, a group that met with Mr. González in Cuba, act as intermediary in the boy's return, Mr. Bergeron said.
"We are not opposed to a third party functioning as an intermediary," Mr. Bergeron said.
Many Miami exiles are angry with President Clinton, saying he caved in to political pressure from Mr. Castro.
On Wednesday, Mr. Clinton said politics did not enter into the administration's decision.
"I know that Clinton doesn't mind breaking the law, but there are laws in this country," said Representative Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Republican who represents Miami in Congress. "This is illegal. Only a court of law can decide this."
Lawyers for the family said today that they wanted immigration officials to issue a deportation order for Elián in the hope that the case would then go before an immigration judge. "We would be perfectly willing to go along with that," said Spencer Eig, another lawyer for the
family.
Elián's return poses a political problem for Democrats in South Florida, some of whom have been gaining lost ground in a region that has largely devoted itself to the Republican Party for many years.
On Wednesday, Vice President Al Gore chose not to comment. But today, he suggested that the father should come to the United States to pick up his son. Barring that, Mr. Gore said the matter should be settled in court.
"I would hope that during this period allocated for the appeal, the due process normally followed for determining child-custody cases would somehow be applied because the fact is, yes, eventually, obviously, the rights of this boy's father are very powerful," Mr. Gore said at a news
conference in Manchester, N.H.
"I believe the best solution," he added, "remains to grant a temporary visa and give the boy's father the right to come here and state on free soil his true wishes without fear of intimidation."
Republicans, meanwhile, have used the issue to their advantage, denouncing the administration ruling and expressing sympathy with the exiles' plight.
Elián, who has been living with his paternal great-aunt and great-uncle, was sheltered from the hubbub for the most part.
The boy started school this week in Little Havana.
Relatives of Elián said today that they were heartbroken about having to tell him of the I.N.S. decision. They would, they said, try to broach the subject today.
"He says he doesn't want to go," said Alfredo Martell, one of Elián's cousins.
Miami and Metro-Dade police were out in full force, including on horseback and in riot gear, in the face of the protests.
Not all of Miami was pleased by the acts of civil disobedience. "I don't think this is right," said Peter Aiello, 39, who watched the marchers during his lunch hour in downtown Miami. "The decision has already been made. It's not right to disrupt other people's lives."
Journalists Denied Visas
The Cuban government this week denied visas for a long-planned trip by a group of American editorial writers, citing the editors' desire to include a representative of The Miami Herald, which has followed Cuban news more closely than almost any other American newspaper over the last
quarter-century.
After being denied a visa last year, The Herald's editorial page editor, Tom Fiedler, urged the other participants in the National Conference of Editorial Writers group to go without him. But the Miami newspaper's coverage of the trip, and of its exclusion, prompted the Cuban government to deny
visas to all the other 38 participants, who were due to go in three weeks. The trip had been planned since late summer.
A Cuban diplomat in Washington, Luis Fernández, explained the denial in a telephone interview yesterday. "The Herald pulled out, but The Herald started a campaign against our government, criticizing our government," Mr. Fernández said.
In an interview yesterday, Alberto Ibarguen, The Herald's publisher, said, "Nothing better illustrates how totalitarians act as when they are subjected to inquiry by a free press."
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