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The Fight Over Elián

By Nelida Gonzales Cutler

Day and night, demonstrators line the street near the small white house in Miami, Florida. They chant, "ĦElián no se va!" (Elián won't go!) The protesters wave Cuban and American flags, sing songs and talk to reporters. Hundreds of reporters are camped out on the once quiet street. At the center of all the commotion is a little 6-year-old boy whose name most Americans now know very well: Elián González.

Elián is caught in a battle that has divided his family. It has also focused attention on U.S. relations with the country of Cuba, Elián's homeland. Last week Elián's father Juan Miguel González arrived in the U.S. He hopes to take Elián back to Cuba. Many Cuban Americans vow that they won't let the boy go.

A Father-and-Son Reunion?
When Elián was plucked from the waters off the coast of Florida last Thanksgiving Day, he was called a miracle child. His mother had drowned when the small boat in which they were escaping from communist Cuba sank. Elián survived by clinging to an inner tube for two days. He said dolphins helped him stay afloat.

The joy at Elián's rescue faded as the fight over him erupted. Elián's U.S. relatives refused to send the boy back to a country where they say he would not be free. But the U.S. government says that legally, Elián should be in the custody, or care, of his father.

Last week Juan Miguel González stayed at the Bethesda, Maryland, home of a Cuban diplomat, to await a reunion with Elián. "I hope I will soon be able to embrace my son," said González. But distrust and 900 miles continued to separate González from Elián. On Friday, González met with U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno. She promised to make sure that the "transfer occurs in a fair, prompt and orderly manner."

Before González left his home, Cuban leader Fidel Castro assured him that the battle for Elián is in the "final stage." But agreeing on when and where to transfer Elián to his father's care won't be easy. In Miami, Elián's great-uncle Lázaro insisted, "We aren't going to take the boy anywhere!"

Cuban-American protesters have promised to block any effort to remove Elián. They want Elián to be granted asylum, or protection, so that the he can live in the U.S.

Immigration has long been a sticking point in U.S.-Cuba relations. After the 1959 revolution, more than 1 million Cubans left the island and settled in the U.S. In 1994, the U.S. agreed to accept at least 20,000 Cuban refugees a year. In addition, Cubans continued to flee the poverty and oppression of their homeland illegally, often in small boats or rafts. In 1995, the U.S. said it would return to Cuba anyone stopped at sea. Cuban adults who reach the U.S. mainland are routinely allowed to stay. The two other survivors of the shipwreck that killed Elián's mother made it to shore. They were not sent back to Cuba.

Where Does Elian Belong?
On March 21, Judge K. Michael Moore dismissed a request for an asylum hearing from Elián's U.S. relatives. Although U.S. laws allow anyone who has a "fear of persecution" to apply for asylum, the laws also say only a parent can speak for a child.

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