Yahoo! November 24, 2000
Cuba Says Snatched Boy Is on Island
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
HAVANA, 23 (AP) - Cuba said Thursday that an American boy and his Cuban
mother are staying with relatives on the island - confirming the suspicions of
the child's father in Florida, who wants the boy back.
Jonathon Loren Colombini, 5, and his mother, Arletis Blanco Perez, 29, are
staying with family in the western province of Pinar del Rio, the Communist
Party daily newspaper Granma said.
Cuban authorities hope the case "can be resolved as rapidly as
possible, in agreement with the pertinent legal regulations, with absolute
impartiality and in the spirit of justice,'' the newspaper said.
The child's U.S.-born father, Jon Colombini, 31, said this week that his
ex-wife had taken the boy to the island without consulting him. He has asked the
U.S. government to help him retrieve the child.
The case is being called a reverse example of the recent international
custody battle over Elian Gonzalez, a child who was taken to Florida without his
father's permission.
Both Colombini and U.S. authorities have said the parents shared custody of
Jonathon, a status that would prohibit the boy's mother from taking him out of
Florida.
But Blanco told Cuban border police that she wanted to remain in Cuba
permanently, according to Granma. The paper said she told authorities that
Colombini's custody had been withdrawn because he allegedly had a drinking
problem.
That allegation could not be confirmed, and Colombini refused comment when
contacted Thursday.
Blanco and little Jonathon arrived on the island Nov. 12, with her current
boyfriend, Cuban-born Agustin Lemus, 37, and their 18-month-old daughter,
Jessica Lemus, the paper said. Blanco and Lemus lived in Key Largo. Lemus'
cousin Yuriel Leon Lemus, 21, captained a sailboat across the Florida Straits,
from Key West to Bahia Honda, in Pinar del Rio province.
While Blanco and the children are staying with family, the two men were
detained "awaiting the results of an investigation under way,'' said
Granma.
Meanwhile, federal authorities in south Florida have said they are working
to resolve the case. Cuba and the United States have no diplomatic relations and
do not share an extradition treaty covering such cases, which could complicate
matters.
Colombini, a restaurant kitchen manager who lives in Homestead, Fla. with
his second wife, noted the similarities between his case and that of Elian, who
was the focus of an intense international custody battle that divided Cubans on
both sides of the Florida Straits.
Elian's mother and 10 others died in an ill-fated voyage to Florida. The boy
was rescued and taken in by his Miami relatives, but his Cuban father fought for
his return. The boy was repatriated on June 28.
Mother: Son Has a Future in Cuba
By Vivian Sequera, Associated Press Writer
BLANCA ARENA, Cuba 24 (AP) - While most Cubans sailing illegally across the
Florida Straits are headed north - toward the United States - Arletis Blanco
Perez believes she is offering her children a better life by returning to her
homeland from Florida.
"If you are a good parent, you are a good parent in a rich country, in
a poor country, in a communist country, in a free country,'' the 29-year-old
said Thursday in her first comments to the foreign media. "Here, because of
the tranquility, they will have more freedom.''
Blanco's story is one of reverses.
After leaving Cuba with her family for the United States when she was a
little girl, Blanco returned to the island this month with her new companion - a
Cuban-born man she met in south Florida. They also took their 18-month-old
daughter and her 5-year-old son from a previous marriage.
But little Jonathon Colombini's U.S.-born father wants his son back and has
asked American authorities to help.
Jonathon is being called the "Reverse Elian,'' a reference to the story
of Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old who was taken from Cuba to Florida without his
father's permission. The boy was then at the center of a protracted custody
battle between American relatives who wanted to keep him in the United States
and a father who wanted him back here.
Blanco admitted Thursday she didn't consult with the child's father about
bringing him to Cuba, but predicts her son will have a "brilliant'' future
there.
Sitting on a rocking chair in the front door of her boyfriend's parent's
home in this town 44 miles west of Havana, Bianco said her children did not have
a bad life in Florida. She just thinks things will be better for them here.
She refused to allow reporters to see either of her children.
The boy's father, Jon Colombini, 31, a restaurant kitchen manager who lives
in Homestead, Fla. with his second wife, has said he and his ex-wife shared
custody of Jonathon. That status would prohibit the boy's mother from taking him
out of Florida. Blanco told Cuban border police that she wanted to remain in
Cuba permanently.
Cuban authorities hope the case "can be resolved as rapidly as
possible, in agreement with the pertinent legal regulations, with absolute
impartiality and in the spirit of justice,'' the Communist Party daily newspaper
Granma said Thursday.
Elian's father also claimed that ex-wife took his son boy out of the country
- Cuba, in that case - without his permission.
But Jonathon "will not become Elian for the simple reason that I am not
dead,'' Blanco said. Elian's mother perished during the sea journey a year ago
this week when their Florida boat sank. The boy, lashed to an innertube, was
later rescued by two men on a fishing trip.
Blanco and Jonathon arrived on the island Nov. 12, with her current
boyfriend, Cuban-born Agustin Lemus, 37, and their daughter, Jessica Lemus,
Granma said. Blanco and Lemus had lived in Key Largo, Fla.
Lemus' cousin Yuriel Leon Lemus, 21, captained a sailboat across the Florida
Straits, from Key West to Bahia Honda, in Pinar del Rio province.
While Blanco and the children are staying with family, the two men were
detained "awaiting the results of an investigation'' said Granma.
Meanwhile, federal authorities in south Florida have said they are working
to resolve the case. Cuba and the United States have no diplomatic relations and
do not share an extradition treaty covering such cases, which could complicate
matters.
Panama Considers Trying Cuban Exiles
PANAMA CITY, 23 Panama (AP) - President Mireya Moscoso said Thursday that
Panama is considering trying four Cuban exiles accused of plotting to kill
President Fidel Castro, rather than extraditing them immediately.
Panama is holding the men, including the group's alleged leader Luis Posada
Carriles, in jail for 60 days pending completion of an extradition request from
Cuba, but have not filed charges against them yet in Panama.
"They entered our country to commit damage, and they have to be judged
by our laws,'' Moscoso told reporters. "If there is a crime, we must put
them on trial, it doesn't matter if they are the biggest of terrorists.''
Castro, in Panama for a summit of Ibero-American leaders last weekend, had
denounced a plot to assassinate him while in Panama. Panamanian authorities then
detained the men who were carrying false passports and later found 17.5 pounds
of plastic explosives buried near the Panama City airport.
Police are investigating whether the explosives belonged to the men. Their
lawyer has said the men knew nothing about the explosives.
The explosives were to have been used to kill Castro when he gave a speech
at a university following the summit, according to the most recent police
investigations.
Local media have reported Panamanian prosecutors are planning to charge the
four with criminal association and attacking the government - a terrorism charge
- but officials have not confirmed what the charges will be.
Panama might also have to weigh an extradition request from Venezuela, where
Posada Carriles escaped from custody in 1985 while awaiting retrial on charges
of the 1976 bombing a Cuban jetliner which killed 73 people.
Posada Carriles, an ex-CIA (news - web sites) operative, was acquitted twice
in Venezuela for the bombing, but was later convicted in absentia and sentenced
to 30 years in prison. He has denied involvement in the jetliner attack.
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