By Luisa Yanez. Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 12:02 a.m. Mar. 23, 2000
Little Havana on alert, won't let Elian go
Attorney General Janet Reno on Thursday reiterated her belief that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez should be returned to Cuba, saying it is time for the boy to be "reunited with his father.''
Reno commented Wednesday evening after meeting in Washington with a lawyer for Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez. She said the boy would be returned in an ``orderly, fair and prompt'' manner.
However, Justice Department officials have said they want to avoid traumatizing the boy or provoking a confrontation with Miami's Cuban exile community.
The boy is with relatives here who want him to remain in the United States. Attorneys for Elian's great-uncle say they will take their battle to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary.
``This (is) an extraordinary case that could reach the highest levels of our court system,'' attorney Kendall Coffey said. ``I've never seen a more compelling or dramatic story in my life.''
Asked Thursday in Washington to say how quickly she thought the matter should be resolved, Reno told reporters, ``I don't think we can speculate. I think this is obviously a matter of great concern ... Elian's father cares a very great deal. This is a wonderful little boy from all that I
have heard, and it is just important that everybody work it out the right way.''
Reno also said the Justice Department ``wants to follow the court's admonition that we not delay the opportunity for this little boy to be with his father.''
U.S. District Judge K. Michael Moore this week essentially upheld the government's decision to send Elian back to Cuba by dismissing a lawsuit seeking an asylum hearing for the boy. The ruling has been appealed.
The attorney for Elián Gonzalez's father met privately in Washington with Reno Wednesday afternoon to work out details for the boy's return to Cuba.
Gregory Craig, an $800-an-hour attorney and former counsel to President Clinton, has said the elder Gonzalez will fly to Miami to pick up his son, but only if he is assured the boy would leave with him.
Or, someone else could take the boy back to Cuba.
Elián was rescued by fishermen from an inner tube off Fort Lauderdale on Thanksgiving Day. He was one of two survivors from a raft that was lost at sea, killing 11, including his mother. He has been the subject of an international custody dispute ever since.
After Tuesday's dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the boy's Miami relatives, Craig said the United States has legal custody of Elián. "They have a right to return him to Cuba … and that's what we want," he said.
In a statement issued by her office Wednesday night, Reno said she would consider Craig's requests.
"I listened to Mr. Craig and will consider the information he offered me about the wishes of Mr. Gonzalez … As I said … I believe it is time for Elián to be reunited with his father. I told Mr. Craig that we will work with everybody concerned to achieve this goal in an
orderly, fair and prompt manner."
State Department officials said Wednesday the father has not asked for a visa.
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokeswoman Maria Cardona said the meeting between Reno and Craig was "just part of the process."
"We're going to be talking to all the interested parties in this issue," Cardona said.
In Miami, attorneys for the boy's relatives feverishly worked on their appeals to Judge Moore's order, which cleared the way for the boy to be sent back to the island.
Craig, who said he was hired by a group of U.S. churches, said the most humane action Elián's Miami relatives could take would be "to drop their appeal."
Coffey, the former U.S. attorney in Miami who has emerged as the lead attorney for the family, said Elián still has not had his day in court and suggested he would take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court, if necessary.
"I've never seen a more compelling or dramatic story in my life," said Coffey, who appeared on NBC's Today show. "This is an extraordinary case that could reach the highest levels of our court system."
A tearful Georgina Cid, Elián's cousin, accompanied Coffey and pleaded for Reno to reconsider her order to return the boy.
At the Gonzalez home in Little Havana, the mood was "tense, sad and hopeful,' said Armando Gutierrez, spokesman for the family. Supporters are afraid Elián could be removed from the Gonzalez home and returned to Cuba by government order.
Cuban exiles in the city said they might launch more demonstrations if immigration officials move to send the boy back to Cuba before an appeal could be heard.
"We abide by the laws of this country, but we don't think Elián has had a fair hearing," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, head of the Democracy Movement, an exile leader who led several protests in January. "If we demonstrate, they will hear us in Washington."
Armando Perez-Roura, a Spanish-language radio personality and exile leader, echoed the sentiment. "We are on alert as of today and prepared to take steps to stop this administration from taking any action against this boy," he said.
The attorneys for the boy's Miami relatives have turned to what appears to be their last legal venue: time. They filed a notice of appeal with the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta on Tuesday, only hours after Moore dismissed a lawsuit filed by the boy's great-uncle, Lazaro
Gonzalez. Moore's ruling affirms the government's decision to send Elián back to his father in Cuba.
On Wednesday, an appeals court representative detailed a typical timeline in such a case.
First, the family has 40 days to file an appeal, then the government will have another 30 days to respond. Then the family will have two weeks to respond. Then a panel of judges would hear the case, then set a date. If all parties take the full time allowed, the process would take more than
80 days.
Another option would be for the attorneys to request a stay of Moore's order, which would temporarily prevent the government from carrying out the order.
Cuba's foreign minister, during a meeting in South Africa, blasted the legal maneuvering delaying the boy's return.
"It has been a crime and a violation of human rights to hold this child ... He should be returned to his father and his family as soon as possible," Felipe Perez Roque told reporters. "Every passing day it is worse for the child."
The family's lawyers said the only trauma facing Elián is that of being forced to return to Cuba, where they say he will be subject to brainwashing and Communist ideology.
"There's very strong evidence of irreparable psychological harm that confronts Elián if he is forcibly removed right now," Coffey said. "The INS has not even evaluated that."
This report was supplemented with information from Washington Bureau Staff Writer Rafael Lorente and Sun-Sentinel wire services.
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