>From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Miami Herald: Elian's Father due at 7 am in Washington > Thu, 6 Apr 2000 04:24:29 -0400 > > >Published Thursday, April 6, 2000, in the Miami Herald > >FATHER ARRIVES TODAY > >No Elian transfer set before teams of lawyers meet > >BY ANA RADELAT AND CAROL ROSENBERG >[EMAIL PROTECTED] > >Elian Gonzalez's father, traveling with only his wife and infant son, was >expected to arrive in the United States today to claim custody of the >6-year-old shipwreck survivor. > >Juan Miguel Gonzalez's attorney, Gregory Craig, announced Wednesday on his >return from Havana that Elian's immediate family would arrive at Dulles >International Airport outside Washington, D.C., at 7 a.m. > >Craig said that, based on comments from the Immigration and Naturalization >Service, Elian's father expected `the process for transferring to him the >care and custody of his son, Elian, will immediately begin.'' > >A Clinton administration official said Wednesday night, however, that no >physical transfer of the child was expected today -- before INS lawyers in >Miami meet with lawyers for the child's Little Havana cousins. > >`This does not mean that we will take Elian [from Miami] upon the father's >arrival. We are still working out the best way as to how to proceed with the >actual transfer,'' the official said. `This is an issue that will be >addressed with Elian's Miami relatives Thursday.'' > >A letter could be sent by week's end notifying Elian's Miami relatives that >custody was officially transferred to Juan Miguel; instructions on how to >execute that transfer would follow in a second letter, perhaps early next >week. > >In Miami, family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said the family wants the >father to come to Miami and work out the custody dispute with his uncles and >cousins. Cuban officials had said the father would stay with the head of the >Cuban Interests Section in Washington, D.C. > >`If he goes to the Cuban Interests Section, we feel he is still not a free >man because he is still controlled by the Cuban government,'' Gutierrez >said. > >However, family attorney Roger Bernstein conceded that the arrival of the >father in the United States could affect today's scheduled negotiations over >Elian. `If he comes to the U.S. as a free man and he can make decisions on >his own, then his arrival would change the dynamics of the negotiations,'' >he said. > >WHAT IF > >In Little Havana, Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez was asked by one of >about 150 people gathered outside his house what would happen if federal >agents came to pick up Elian. `What do you think you're here for?'' Lazaro >responded. > >In Havana, Cuban President Fidel Castro declared victory as he announced the >impending trip at the closing session of a university students' congress. > >`The battle for Elian has been won -- in judicial terms, in legal terms, in >political terms,'' he said. > >Castro said he would be at the airport personally to see Elian's father off >on his trip. > >Elian's father was expected to travel without the entourage of Cuban >classmates, teachers and doctors that Castro had initially demanded >accompany him. Craig specifically named only three people who would be >arriving from Havana -- Elian's father, 6-month-old half-brother and Juan >Miguel's second wife, the baby's mother. > >Castro also said that Juan Miguel was specifically traveling with his >immediate family so that Cuban Americans in Miami `won't say that [wife and >son] have been left behind as hostages in Cuba.'' > >`Let's see what slander they come up with now,'' he said. > >Word of the intended arrival swept through Little Havana on Wednesday night. >More than 150 supporters of the Gonzalezes of Miami were gathered outside >the house where Elian has lived since shortly after he was rescued on >Thanksgiving Day. Some chanted `Juan Miguel: Come and Stay!'' urging the >father to defect. > >Nearby, others honked their car horns. > >Elian was not at the house when Craig made his announcement. Earlier, his >great-uncle Lazaro had left with the child and Gutierrez said Elian had been >taken to the home of a family friend, with his cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez. >Later, Gutierrez said a sleeping Elian had been returned to the house. > >Gutierrez noted that a family court order prevents Elian from leaving >Miami-Dade County. > >ALARMED REACTION > >Democracy Movement leader Ramon Saul Sanchez reacted with alarm to the >development. `If they take him to the Cuban Interests Section, they will do >it over our bodies,'' he said. > >In Washington, Craig said: `It is time for this reunion to go forward, and >[Juan Miguel] is prepared to stay here until he has achieved that >objective.'' > >He added: `It is a great tragedy when a young child loses a parent, as Elian >did during his trip to the United States. But it is an equal tragedy for any >parent to face the loss of a young child. . . . The first tragedy cannot be >reversed. The second tragedy can and must be ended.'' > >Elian's mother and 10 others drowned when their boat capsized and sank. > >INS spokeswoman Maria Cardona called Craig's announcement `a welcome >development . . . our goal remains to arrive at a cooperative arrangement >with them on a smooth and orderly transfer of Elian to his father.'' > >`From the beginning of this process our goal has been to reunite Elian with >his father. We believe his arrival in the United States should help move >that process forward.'' > >Craig met in Havana with Elian's father on Wednesday and said he persuaded >him to make the trip to the United States -- despite a delay over whether >two dozen other Cubans would receive visas to escort Gonzalez and his >family. > >Others in Craig's entourage to Cuba included Joan Brown Campbell, the former >general secretary of the National Council of Churches; Thom Fassett, general >secretary of the General Board of Church and Society of the United Methodist >Church, and Oliver Garcia, an attorney in Craig's influential Capitol >Beltway law firm. > >INS STATEMENT > >Craig said a statement Monday by the INS that it would begin transferring >custody of the boy to his father once the father arrived in the United >States was crucial to persuading Juan Miguel to make the trip. > >U.S. immigration officials are counting on Gonzalez's arrival to break a >logjam in five days of talks with the boy's Miami relatives. > >Begun a week ago, the talks have been stalled by uncertainty over Juan >Miguel's arrival and by the Miami family's proposal that a trio of >psychologists examine Elian. No talks were held Wednesday. > >On Tuesday, the State Department granted visas to six people -- Gonzalez, >his wife and baby, a young cousin of Elian's, and the boy's pediatrician and >kindergarten teacher -- but kept the other 22 requests `under review.'' > >It was not clear if the other three already granted visas would eventually >travel to the United States. > > >Herald staff writers Frank Davies, Marika Lynch, Andres Viglucci and Jay >Weaver and Herald staff translator Renato Perez contributed to this report. > >================================================================= > NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems > Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us > 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 > http://www.blythe.org e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] >================================================================= > >nytcari-04.06.00-04:24:31-13736 > >------------------------------------------------------------------------ >Save up to 75% on grocery products with FREE Shipping and a 30 Day >Money-Back Guarantee at screaminghotdeals.com >http://click.egroups.com/1/2718/0/_/30563/_/955009498/ >------------------------------------------------------------------------ > >Cuba SI: http://www.egroups.com/group/cubasi/ > >Imperialism NO! 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