By Andrew Cawthorne
HAVANA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The Cuban family of 6-year-old shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez should only go to the United States if it is simply to bring the boy back, a senior official of President Fidel Castro's government said on Saturday.
Ricardo Alarcon, head of Cuba's National Assembly and Castro's pointman on U.S. affairs, reiterated that the father and four grandparents were free to act as they wished in the seven-week-old custody dispute, including going to Miami.
But it would be unadvisable for them to go to Florida unless there were clear guarantees they could travel back immediately with Elian rather than become entangled in legal or political ``tricks and traps,'' the official told Reuters.
``We have always said that they are of course free to do whatever they want. We have to respect their will,'' Alarcon said during an interview at his Havana office.
``However, they will never -- they have said it time and again -- cooperate with any effort or any manoeuvring to avoid sending the boy back to his family,'' he added.
Suggestions from Cuban-American politicians and the Miami relatives who took Elian in, that the father should go there to discuss the case or press their arguments in U.S. courts are part of ``the tricks and traps that they have been creating to sustain the kidnapping,'' Alarcon said.
``Imagine little Elian, separated from his family for six weeks now. What would be the psychological consequences for him to see some of his closest relatives, and to see them again going back without him?'' he asked.
Those in favour of keeping Elian in Florida have argued that father Juan Miguel Gonzalez is being coerced by the Cuban government and would have a chance to speak freely should he come to the United States.
Elian's parental grandmother Mariela Quintana said Friday, during a protest march in Havana, that she would be prepared to go to Miami if necessary to bring her grandson back.
The U.S. Immigration and Naturalisation Service (INS) ruled earlier this month that Elian belonged with his father and should be returned by Jan. 14, but that deadline was extended following a legal challenge by a Miami family court.
Elian has been in Florida since Nov. 25 when he was picked up at sea by U.S. fishermen after surviving the capsize of a boat full of illegal Cuban migrants. His mother, who was divorced from the father, drowned along with 10 other migrants.
The ensuing custody battle quickly developed into a bitter fight between Castro's communist government and its arch- enemies in Florida's Cuban-American community.
Alarcon, who has been Havana's leading spokesman on the affair, said Cuba ``deplored'' the U.S. authorities' failure to comply with the deadline to return Elian by midnight Friday.
``I wish I had an idea of when they would find the necessary will to do what they consider should be done. This should not last any longer. The question of urgency is crucial,'' he said.
The former Cuban foreign minister and ambassador to the United States -- touted by some as part of a possible future Cuban leadership in a post-Castro era -- added that the massive demonstrations here would continue.
``It's the only thing we can do. The only weapon that we have is to protest, to express our arguments, to try that way to have our views and the legitimate rights of the father and the four grandparents recognised by others,'' he said.
Alarcon acknowledged criticism from some quarters that the daily protests had become repetitive, were costly, and were too rigorously organised by the state. ``What is the alternative? An unorganized demonstration,'' he said.
There had also been various spontaneous displays from Cubans, as well as growing support in the United States and around the world for the campaign to bring back Elian, he said.
Although Alarcon criticised Washington for failing to enforce the INS ruling, he added that the main dispute was no longer between the U.S. and Cuban governments. Rather it was directed from both sides against ``a very small group of people maintaining a small boy in captivity arbitrarily,
illegally.''
Havana remains convinced Elian will return eventually -- ``I hope very soon'' -- but should that not happen, ``that would be terrible. That would have serious consequences for our bilateral relations,'' Alarcon warned.
17:03 01-15-00
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