The Clinton administration wants Cuban raft
boy Elian Gonzalez returned to his rightful father. But Juan
Miguel Gonzalez's legal claim to that title may not be as
strong as once thought.
Six-year-old Elian, it turns out, was actually born more
than two years after Gonzalez divorced the boy's late mother
Elisabeth Brotons in 1991, undermining claims that the Cuban
hotel worker has an unquestionable right to the boy's custody.
"Juan Miguel and Elisabeth met in junior high and were
together, by his estimate, a total of 15 years," reported
The Miami Herald on Friday. "They were married in 1985,
then divorced in 1991, a decision prompted, according to
relatives, by Elisabeth's miscarriages and resulting
depression."
Seven of Brotons' earlier pregnancies ended in miscarriage,
which apparently caused Juan Miguel to seek an end to his
marriage. But Gonzalez claimed to United States immigration
officials that he and his ex-wife decided to continue to try
for children two years after their marriage broke up. Gonzalez
has offered no explanation for the strange decision.
Despite Elisabeth's successful pregnancy and Elian's
healthy birth, Juan Miguel declined to reconcile the split
with his ex-wife, and instead took a new wife who bore him a
son last year.
Cuba's state newspaper Granma claims that the
divorced couple went to a specialized obstetrics hospital in
Havana and, after faithfully following doctor's orders,
Elisabeth conceived Elian. But the boy's paternity has never
been established scientifically.
Further weakening Juan Miguel's claim on the boy; Brotons
had sole legal custody over Elian -- though neighbors in
Castro's Cuba say the boy often spent time with his biological
father.