ABC News.com, March 29
Government Demands That Elian Family Sign Pledge
March 29 — The custody dispute over Elian Gonzalez has reached an impasse over a single demand by the U.S. immigration officials: that the boy’s Miami relatives agree to turn him over if their fight to keep him fails.
The decision rests in the hands of Elian’s great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, who has been given until 9 a.m. Thursday to promise in writing that he — and the rest of the family — will let the child go if a federal appeals court does not side with them. Gonzalez is expected to meet
with immigration officials today to discuss the demand.
But so far, the family shows no signs of giving in. After their lawyers met with INS officials, Elian’s relatives slammed authorities for pushing the issue.
"They said, ‘If you don’t sign the paper, we remove Elian.’ They don’t tell us how," said family spokesman Armando Gutierrez.
"I don’t know what else they want from the Lazaro Gonzalez family," he said, referring to the great-uncle with whom Elian has been staying since being rescued from the Florida Straits. "They [INS officials] are following orders either from Clinton’s lawyers or Fidel
[Castro], and they need to answer to the community and to the world."
What Does Elian Want?
Meanwhile, in the third broadcast of ABC’s talk with Elian, the boy was asked about his life in Cuba and Miami.
According to ABCNEWS’ Diane Sawyer, Elian said in Spanish that he didn’t want his father to visit him in Miami "‘because he’ll take me to Cuba and I don’t want to go to Cuba."‘
"He can stay here, I don’t want to go," Sawyer quoted him as saying. Viewers couldn’t hear Elian’s comments directly.
When asked what he liked about Cuba, Elian, constantly playing with a book, he said "nothing." But later, when asked what he liked about Miami, he again said "nothing."
And when asked if he would like to go to Cuba, even with his 21-year-old cousins Marisleysis Gonzalez, who he has become attached to as a maternal figure, the boy said "no."
While this exchange may demonstrate Elian’s wishes, a child psychologists said Elian may just be wanting a stable environment
"All 6-year-olds are suggestible," said Dr. Gunther Perdiago, a psychiatrist who accompanied ABC to see Elian. "But again, no one seems to take into account that the child lost his mother, that he was at sea in an inner tube for 48 hours. And then when he was in the hospital, he
bonded with his cousin, who has been his lifeline now for more than four months."
Some have criticized the INS for not interviewing the child to find out what he would like to do.
"A child should have the right to be heard by himself or herself or through a lawyer," said Judge Charles Gill, co-founder of the task force for children’s constitutional rights. "We all have that right as adults. In this case no one has listened to the child. It is
astounding to me."
A former INS official defended the federal authorities.
"I think the INS clearly cares about the 6-year-old child. That accounts for the careful process that they’ve undertaken up until now, why they have waited until this time, why they have allowed for the court proceedings to go forward without demanding the child back," David
Martin, former INS official. "At the time when they initially acted it wasn’t so relevant what the child may have felt."
INS on the Defense
At a press conference on Tuesday, the INS defended its hard stance on Elian’s parole, saying it is treating the case like any other immigration matter and has even gone out of their way to accommodate the family.
"While INS has always had the authority to implement its decision, we have gone to great lengths to bring about a resolution that is carried out in a manner that creates as little disruption for Elian as is possible," said INS spokeswoman Karen Kraushaar.
"Far from depriving Lazaro Gonzalez of his right to appeal, we have attempted to accommodate his interests in obtaining review by the court of appeals while assuring an orderly reunion of Elian and his father if the district court’s decision is affirmed."
She also said that the INS demands for the promise from the family is routine and that all people granted parole into the United States are required to abide by the conditions of their parole.
Elian was found floating in the Florida Straits on Nov. 25. Two other people, both adults, were rescued, but Elian’s mother and 10 others drowned.
Since his dramatic rescue, the case has became a tug of war between the Cuban government and Elian’s U.S. family members. The INS has said the child should be returned to his surviving parent, the father in Cuba, but the U.S. relatives oppose the Cuban government’s Communist ideology
and say they should be allowed to rear the boy.
Cuban President Fidel Castro has said he fears Elian will be taken out of the country to avoid sending him back to Cuba.
But Lazaro Gonzalez denies he’d send Elian out of the country, or that he himself would leave.
"It never even entered my mind," he said. "This is my home."
The Associated Press contributed to this report. |