From Times Wire Reports. Los Angeles Times

The father of Elian Gonzalez, whose fate could be decided today by a U.S. federal judge, said in published comments he would not plead for his son in a U.S. court but was confident he would return to Cuba from Florida. "In spite of everything, I am sure the boy will come back," Juan Miguel Gonzalez said in an interview carried by Cuba's news agency, Prensa Latina, on the eve of a key U.S. court hearing on the 15-week custody battle over Elian. The 6-year-old boy, who was rescued off Florida Nov. 25 after surviving a shipwreck that killed his mother and 10 others, has been staying with relatives in Miami. They are fighting a legal and political battle to keep him in the United States against the wishes of his father, who wants him returned to him in Cuba. In the interview, Elian's father repeated his claim for custody of his son. "I'm not willing to take part in any court case, which I don't agree with, nor am I willing to negotiate for my son. I'm simply defending my right as a father," Gonzalez, 31, said.

Copyright 2000 Los Angeles Times

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