By Anita Snow, .c The Associated Press
HAVANA (AP) - A top Cuban legislator blasted attempts by the Miami relatives of Elian Gonzalez to keep the 6-year-old in the United States on Wednesday and cast doubt on the idea that the boy's grandmothers will go to pick him up.
Ricardo Alarcon, president of the National Assembly, was interviewed on government television after the boy's U.S. family members announced they would sue in federal court to keep the boy permanently in the United States, but before the action was filed.
Alarcon described Elian's Miami relatives as "a bunch of kidnappers'' and said their attempts to keep the boy in the United States " ignores the American government, showing disrespect for its institutions.''
There was no other immediate reaction to the Miami family's lawsuit, filed Wednesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Miami challenging the Immigration and Naturalization Service's determination - backed by both Attorney General Janet Reno and President Clinton - that Elian be reunited with
his father in Cuba.
With the presence of Fidel Castro, hundreds of Cuban jurists gathered in Havana on Wednesday afternoon for the latest in a series of government rallies pressing for Elian's return. Elian's maternal grandmother Raquel Rodriguez and paternal grandmother Mariela Quintana were special guests at the
event.
Fishermen rescued Elian off the coast of Florida on Nov. 25 after a boating accident that killed his mother and 10 others during an apparent illegal attempt to enter the United States. Ever since, Elian has been the coveted prize in a tug-of-war between his relatives and anti-Castro activists in
Miami and the boy's father and government in Cuba.
In his interview with Cuban television earlier Wednesday, Alarcon cast doubt on a possible trip to the United States by the boy's grandmothers, both of whom have said repeatedly in recent days that they were willing to go to Miami to claim Elian.
``Someone has to turn them over,'' Alarcon said, referring to the Miami relatives.
U.S. officials confirmed Wednesday that the chief of the U.S. Interests Section, Vicky Huddleston, had discussed the issue of the grandmothers with Cuban officials in Havana on Monday. But they indicated that no decision had been made and said that the grandmothers had not applied for visas.
Alarcon denied that the international custody case demonstrated a difference between the U.S. and Cuban governments.
``In this moment there is no controversy between the governments of Cuba and the Untied States,'' said Alarcon. He said Washington officials ``very clearly have recognized that this child should be returned to his father as quickly as possible.''
AP-NY-01-19-00 2008EST
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