By Michael J. Sniffen, .c The Associated Press
WASHINGTON, 14 (AP) - Flashing anger at those responsible for keeping his son in Miami, the father of Elian Gonzalez said Thursday he feels like ``breaking the neck'' of politicians fighting the boy's return to Cuba.
Repeating previous statements that he has no intention of coming to Miami to pick up the boy, Juan Miguel Gonzalez told ABC's ``Nightline'' that Elian's U.S. relatives don't ``have any feelings.''
The interview was conducted as Attorney General Janet Reno sought the return of the 6-year-old child, even while the custody case headed to federal court.
``The issue is a father who wants his son home and grandparents who want their grandson home and these are bonds that should be honored,'' Reno told her weekly news conference Thursday.
Gonzalez asked whether, if he went to Miami, his son would be handed over. ``No,'' he said, answering his own question. ``Miami Cubans would just entangle me in their political games.''
Speaking in Spanish, with a simultaneous translation, the father grew angry when he was asked about a news report that he didn't work anymore, didn't live in his own home and was under psychiatric treatment.
He called the report ``a lie,'' and added: ``Perhaps I might be a little bit crazy because I would feel like breaking the neck of all those SOBs'' opposing Elian's return. He cited ``the politicians in Miami and those who ... have behaved in a manner that is contrary to what our relatives should
have done.''
At another point, Gonzalez said he ``what I would like to do is go down there with a rifle.'' Told by interviewer Chris Wallace the remark was inflammatory, the father responded: ``Isn't it inflammatory what they are doing with my son?''
An attorney for Elian's Florida relatives, who are caring for him now, said they would go to federal court next week to challenge the Immigration and Naturalization Service's ruling that he must be returned to his father in Cuba
The INS, meanwhile, rejected a second asylum petition filed this week on behalf of Elian by his Florida relatives. Justice Department spokeswoman Carole Florman said that only the boy's father could represent his son before the agency. Ms. Florman said the new petition contained ``no new
information.''
Elian was found clinging to an inner tube in the Atlantic off Florida on Thanksgiving. His mother and others fleeing Cuba with him had drowned.
Reno voiced concern about the boy.
``My hope is that people will look at this little boy and get him into a situation where he can live a normal life without television cameras and the world in his face,'' she said.
``Do you remember when you were 6? There were some days I wanted to run away from home and there were other days when I wanted my mommy so bad I couldn't stand it. ... I certainly think the experience of most people is that a 6-year-old is too young to speak for himself.''
To allow time for a federal court challenge, Reno said Wednesday the INS indefinitely would extend its Friday deadline for turning the boy over. She brushed aside a state court ruling delaying the boy's return and said any challenge to the INS would have to come in federal court.
She explained Thursday that the boy's status is an immigration matter, solely in the jurisdiction of federal law.
``I believe that the people involved in this situation care about the little boy and want to do what's right by him and I think they have also indicated a faith in the legal process. Let's let that happen,'' Reno said.
Reno refused to spell out precisely the department's options.
Justice officials, requesting anonymity, said they could go to federal court on their own for a ruling that the state court order does not overrule the INS decision or for an enforcement order to carry out the INS decision. But they said they wanted to choose the least provocative course, and,
though they would not say so directly, that course appeared to be waiting to respond to any federal court action filed by the Florida relatives.
Spencer Eig, attorney for the boy's Florida relatives, said they would ask a federal court for relief next Tuesday.
``The government should have respected the temporary protective order of the Florida family court, as it was based on preventing imminent and irreparable harm to the child,'' Eig said. ``Now we will take the case to a court they cannot ignore.''
Cuban President Fidel Castro appeared at a rally in Havana on Thursday as his countrymen kept up their pressure for the boy's return. He did not address the demonstrators.
AP-NY-01-14-00 0010EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. |