HAVANA (AP) - Elian Gonzalez's grandfathers were the guests of honor at a Havana rally for the return of the 6-year-old as his grandmothers sought to meet with him in the United States.
The event at Cuba's National Theater was attended by elderly Cubans and featured songs in honor of Elian and speakers castigating ``the mafia of Miami'' for allegedly kidnapping Elian.
Paternal grandfather Juan Gonzalez and Rolando Betancourt, the husband of Elian's maternal grandmother, did not speak during the event held Monday, nor did Elian's father Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who also attended.
The two-plus hour rally was one in a series of almost nightly rallies to demand the child's return from the United States. It also continued the harsh rhetoric aimed at anti-Castro exiles based in Miami, who have been at the forefront of the effort to keep Elian in the United States.
Jose Maceo, a grandson of Cuban independence hero Antonio Maceo, noted that Cuban officials have referred to U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros Lehtinen, a Florida Republican who has been involved in the case, as ``a savage wolf.
``I say that if savage wolves heard this they would feel very offended because it would not occur to any savage wolf to obtain someone else's cub and put it in her pack,'' he said.
The event occurred as Elian's grandmothers, Raquel Rodriguez and Mariela Quintana, flew to Miami in hopes of meeting with the boy, who has been in the United States since Nov. 25, when he was rescued from a shipwreck that killed his mother and 10 other people.
However they left Miami without seeing Elian due to a dispute over where the meeting was to take place. Elian's great-uncle insisted the meeting should be at his house. They insisted on meeting the child alone.
AP-NY-01-24-00 2114EST
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