By Andrew Cawthorne. Financial Times. 29 Mar 2000 04:26GMT
HAVANA, March 28 - Cuban President Fidel Castro claimed on Tuesday an anti-communist Miami exile group considered kidnapping six-year-old castaway Elian Gonzalez when the legal battle to keep him in the United States began losing steam.
In that meeting, they agreed that the Elian case was lost, given that the tribunals would rule in favor of his return (to Cuba), and that the option would be to kidnap the boy, Castro said, reading a Cuban intelligence report.
In the meeting, the idea was put forward to take the boy, together with his Miami relatives to a third country where they could take refuge ... preferably Nicaragua or Costa Rica, Castro added in comments broadcast live on Cuba's two TV stations, both state-controlled.
In Miami, CANF spokeswoman Ninoska Perez poured scorn on the accusation, saying no such meeting had taken place and such an idea -- of spiriting Elian away -- had never been considered by the organization.
WARNS OF DANGERS
Castro read the intelligence report to substantiate a controversial weekend speech in which he warned of the dangers facing Elian after a court ruling against his Miami relatives and growing U.S. government pressure for him to be sent home.
The Cuban leader said a public denunciation, combined with sending the intelligence reports to the U.S. government, was the best way to prevent such plans by the Miami Mafia.
The CANF's Perez said Castro's accusations were science fiction.
Castro's senility is pathetic, she told Reuters.
From the outset of the four-month-old custody dispute, Castro has backed Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, in his demand for the boy to be returned to him in Cuba.
Elian was picked up at sea off Florida late November after a boat full of illegal Cuban migrants capsized, killing 11 people on board, including his mother. He has lived with Miami relatives since, prompting a highly politicized custody battle.
In his comments on Tuesday, Castro reiterated his weekend claims that Cuban-American extremists fighting to keep Elian in Miami might also consider infecting the boy with a life- threatening disease if he is to be sent back to Cuba.
Such a tactic would be a revenge against his father and the U.S. government, whose immigration service has ruled in favor of returning Elian to Cuba, Castro said.
The Cuban leader also quoted an intelligence report alleging that a member of the hard-line CANF hopes to marry Elian's cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, and jointly adopt the boy.
This individual is planning to make the most of the situation in the future, given that various companies have made approaches to create commercials, toys or comics using the figure of Elian, which would bring him good economic dividends, Castro said.
The Cuban leader named the man as Mario Miranda and described him as a former U.S. policeman who became a bodyguard of ex-CANF leader Jorge Mas Canosa, and was currently in charge of the CANF's security affairs.
Asked about this, the CANF's Perez said no such romantic link existed.
CASTRO SCENTING VICTORY?
Castro's TV appearance on Tuesday was his fourth consecutive day of public comments in a verbal offensive which has contrasted with his desire in previous weeks to avoid the limelight. No-one in Cuba doubts, however, that he has been personally directing the Free Elian campaign from the start,
albeit behind-the-scenes at times.
Analysts believe Castro is now scenting victory after a Miami court ruled last week in favor of Elian's return, and the U.S. government moved towards terminating this Thursday the boy's parole status in the care of great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez.
But Castro is clearly also nervous of a last-minute hitch that would derail a victory for Havana in the saga, they say.
Castro apologized to his listeners for delaying Cuba's nightly news by 15 minutes while he spoke, and confessed he was barely sleeping - just two or three hours - as the case appeared to be reaching a climax. |