By Ignacio Hernandez
CARDENAS, Cuba, Jan 7 (Reuters) - Cuba's government heaped scorn and criticism on Friday on its Cuban exile foes in Miami for trying to block a decision by U.S. authorities to return shipwreck boy Elian Gonzalez to his father on the island.
``They are threatening riots, to set alight to Miami. Why? To carry on exploiting a child,'' Ricardo Alarcon, President of Cuba's National Assembly, told a big rally held in Elian's home town of Cardenas, about 85 miles (140 km) east of Havana.
He was commenting on an outburst of street protests in Miami by Cuban exiles angry over a ruling by the U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) on Wednesday that 6-year-old Elian belonged back with his father in Cuba.
The boy has been at the centre of an emotional custody battle between Havana and Miami since he was rescued Nov. 25 after surviving the shipwreck of a boat carrying illegal Cuban migrants. His mother was among 11 Cubans who drowned.
Alarcon said Cuba would continue a month-long campaign of government-organised demonstrations, not just to ensure Elian was returned in line with the INS ruling, but also to press for an end to hostile U.S. government policy toward Havana.
Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, wept at the Cardenas rally, which he attended with other family members who joined several tens of thousands of flag-waving, chanting Cubans, mostly schoolchildren, students and military cadets.
With tear-moistened eyes, Gonzalez read a brief, emotional statement thanking Cuba's President Fidel Castro and the Cuban people for their support in the six-week custody battle, which has strained already hostile U.S.-Cuban relations.
``Today, our Elian ... represents Cubans' dignity ... a symbol for Cuba and the world,'' Gonzalez said.
Gonzalez told reporters he had no plans to travel to the United States to collect his son following the INS decision, which said the boy should be returned to Cuba by Jan 14.
``At no time have I thought about going to the United States, neither tomorrow or any of these days,'' he said.
But he said later he would be in favour of a religious group, such as the New York-based National Council of Churches, escorting his son back to the island. A Council delegation met Gonzalez and Castro in Havana this week.
Calling for continued demonstrations to ensure Elian's return and against U.S. policy on Cuba, Alarcon said, ``We can't have a truce, we can't let our guard down ... because a criminal policy is being continued which affects the lives and rights of each and every one of our children.''
He cited the 38-year-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba which he said had been tightened over the last decade.
Castro did not attend the Cardenas demonstration but sent a brief message saying Alarcon would speak for the government and announce its strategy.
In his speech, Alarcon told his audience that Cuban- American legislators and their right-wing supporters in the U.S. Congress were preparing a campaign of legal ``maneuvers and traps'' to try to keep the boy in the United States.
He said this even included a move to oblige Elian and his father to appear before a U.S. congressional committee to try to further delay the boy's return to Cuba.
``Now, they are not only trying to endorse the kidnapping of Elian ... but they are even threatening to kidnap Juan Miguel too,'' Alarcon said.
He spoke at about the same time as news emerged that a U.S. congressional committee subpoenaed Elian in a move aimed at preventing him from leaving the United States, at least temporarily.
Noting that Miami relatives of Elian were petitioning Florida courts to dispute the INS ruling, Alarcon urged the U.S. authorities to send the boy home quickly before he became entangled in a ``labyrinth of legalistic manoeuvres.''
He was particularly scathing in his references to the Cuban American National Foundation (CANF), a Miami-based anti-Castro exile group, and Republican Cuban-American legislators like Lincoln Diaz-Balart and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who have been leading the campaign to keep Elian in the United
States.
23:19 01-07-00
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