By Meg Laughlin. mlaughlin@herald.com. Published Friday, March 31, 2000, in the Miami Herald
God is on our side. That was the message Wednesday night at the huge prayer vigil in Little Havana, where the increasing religious mythology and fervor surrounding Elian Gonzalez reached a new high, as local Catholic priests and an auxiliary bishop likened the 6-year-old child to Jesus.
``In Cuba, some people have made Elian a symbol of the new Che [Guevara], so it is not so unusual that some people in Miami are seeing him as the new Christ,'' said the Rev. Gustavo Miyares of Immaculate Conception Church in Hialeah, who was one of the organizers of the prayer vigil.
The tendency to turn the political controversy surrounding the child into religious symbolism began four months ago when the boy was plucked from the sea by fishermen. An unconfirmed tale said dolphins circled around him, keeping him safe. This miraculous story paved the way for religious
comparisons: Some compared the child's rescue to the tale of the drowning fishermen saved by la Caridad del Cobre (the Virgin of Charity), the patron saint of Cuba. Others likened the first-grader to Moses, believing he was put upon the roiling waters by his mother and rescued so that he could
eventually return to Cuba and lead his people, just as Moses did.
Still others compared Elian to baby Jesus himself, saying that his arrival just weeks before Christmas and the year 2000 made him a symbol of hope, like Jesus.
The religious fervor surrounding the child was further buoyed by talk on the street that Fidel Castro must have the child to meet some conditions of his Santeria beliefs. This rumor surfaced after Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, host to the boy and his grandmothers in late January, was given a note by
Lazaro Gonzalez, the boy's great-uncle, who asked her to pass it on to the grandmothers. O'Laughlin, who forgot to pass the note on, found it in her pocket after Lazaro, Elian and the grandmothers had left her house.
``I was shocked by what it said,'' O'Laughlin said. ``The great-uncle believed Castro would make a witchcraft sacrifice of Elian and I became very worried about this.''
O'Laughlin said her reversal of her neutral stance was partially provoked by the note, and she told the attorneys for the Miami family about it. Meanwhile, rumors spread on the street that the child would become Castro's Santeria sacrifice.
According to the most-repeated rumor, a Santeria priestess had warned Castro that he would be overthrown by a child saved by dolphins at sea. Castro, therefore, had to get the child back in order to defuse the boy's potential power.
A poster reflecting the fear of Santeria designs on the boy recently appeared in Little Havana. It is a photo of Elian accompanied by these words in Spanish: ``Elian knows Christ; the others don't.''
``The others are people in Cuba who believe in Santeria,'' said Alberto Davila, a neighbor of Elian's Miami relatives who has the poster taped to his front door.
``The Santeria rumors are ridiculous. The child was baptized as a Catholic in Cuba before he ever got here. He will not go back and become something different,'' said Joan Brown Campbell of the National Council of Churches, who accompanied Elian's grandmothers when they visited him.
But the belief that the savior-child can only be saved from the underworld if he stays in Miami continues to rage on the streets.
Last week, an oily smudge appeared on a bank window near the Little Havana home where the child lives with his Miami relatives. People gathered around it, some weeping and calling it an apparition of the Virgin Mary, who was showing herself, they believed, in support of the cause to keep Elian
in Miami. Then, a few days later, the apparition moved closer to home when a spot appeared on a mirror in the bedroom where the child sleeps, its shape resembling the Virgin of Guadalupe, who is said to have shown herself to a Mexican peasant more than 400 years ago.
Outside the house, believers waved signs in Spanish to promote the idea that the Elian saga is religious at its core. One said: ``Do not deliver Elian to the Romans.'' Another said: ``Elian is Christ. Reno is Lucifer. Castro is Satan.''
Miyares: ``These religious connections to Elian are a way for people to channel their grief and anger over 41 years of revolution. This child is a way for them to envision resurrection for Cuba.''
But the Roman Catholic Church is not buying it -- at least not officially. Nor is it pointing to abundant Catholic teaching that says the relationship of a parent to a child takes precedence over issues of state or religion, suggesting that the child should be returned to his father in Cuba,
rather than stay here. Instead, the Catholic Archdiocese has taken a no-comment position, saying only that people should pray for Elian and everyone involved with his future.
And Wednesday night they did.
Thousands formed a human cross in Little Havana, listening as priests read from the Bible and prayed. After reading from Scriptures about Herod wanting Jesus killed, Auxiliary Bishop Agustin Roman compared Elian to Jesus.
Jesus was saved by his mother and foster father who took him away from Herod's murderous grasp, just as Elian was saved by his mother and stepfather who took him away from Castro to make him safe, Roman said.
``Open the door and protect him from the people who want him for bad things,'' Roman prayed.
When the bishop finished, Donato Dalrymple, one of the fisherman who rescued Elian, began a prayer: ``Keep Elian in Miami where he belongs.''
Then he lifted his head and began to shout: ``Freedom for Elian. Freedom for Cuba.''
And once again, as thousands joined in, the line blurred between what is political and what is religious in the Elian Gonzalez saga in Miami.
Police: We'll protect public, but won't help remove boy
By Frances Robles. frobles@herald.com
Police departments found themselves on the defensive Thursday -- spending the day fielding frantic calls from people worried that if civil unrest broke out over Elian Gonzalez, cops planned to sit it out.
Not so, Miami and Miami-Dade Police were quick to say -- no matter what people thought Mayor Alex Penelas said the day before.
``We clearly said we were not going to condone illegal behavior,'' the mayor's spokesman Juan Mendieta stressed. ``We recognize the right to peacefully protest in parks. If it's in lanes of traffic, that's a different story.''
Penelas stirred up a controversy Wednesday after saying the federal government could not use county resources for the ``illegal'' repatriation of the 6-year-old boy to Cuba. Many television viewers watching his comments live took it to mean the police departments would stand back and do nothing,
no matter what occurred.
MORE FALLOUT
Plenty of appalled municipal and federal law enforcers took it that way too.
``To come to our federal courthouse and give that speech -- what was that?'' one federal agent said. ``That's unbelievable. You're telling me if I'm getting my butt kicked, nobody's going to jump in? I don't think so.''
Both Miami and Miami-Dade Police said they won't allow law-breaking. That means no street-blocking, no airport-blocking, no rock-throwing. That said, both have zero intention of offering their SWAT teams to help drag Elian out of his uncle's house past protesters.
``If the feds came to me and said, `There's 20,000 people around the house and we got 50 guys and we need some help to break through,' I'd have to say very seriously: `That's not a good idea,' '' Miami Police Chief William O'Brien said.
O'Brien said his department is trying to work with protesters to keep things peaceful. He cited past instances where Haitian-Americans were permitted to block traffic in front of the INS building for short stretches. In four minutes, the street was cleared.
NO BLOCKED STREETS
``Our position is, `If you're going to do something, give us a shout -- provided whatever you do is not designed to bring Miami to a halt,' '' O'Brien said. ``If the objective is to block streets, then we'd have a workman-like position of making arrests in a methodical and professional manner.''
He acknowledged that he was taken aback by Penelas' press conference.
``I was surprised,'' he said. ``My understanding was they'd reached out to U.S. Marshals for a call to calm. Based on the calls we received, I'm not sure they achieved their objective.''
Deputy John Amat, spokesman for the U.S. Marshals, said the agency had no plans to intervene in Elian's case.
``We're not involved, we have nothing to do with it, and we have no reaction to the mayor's comments yesterday,'' he said. ``We're not anticipating being involved.''
Neither does Miami-Dade Police.
``This is a federal matter in a different jurisdiction,'' said Commander Linda O'Brien, spokeswoman for the county police. ``We are not involved in this.''
She also said that the police would make arrests if protesters block the airport or other public facilities.
``Should there be civil disobedience, where people are breaking the law, we will not tolerate civil disobedience,'' she said.
Carlos Alvarez, director of the department, was not giving media interviews, the spokeswoman said. She would not say how Alvarez reacted to Penelas' comments.
``That's an inappropriate question,'' she said. ``I don't think he had an opinion either way.''
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