"After our country spends $2 million
dollars trying to keep a child from his family and his country, we've finally released him
from our Washington Prison. Hurray!" Do you agree?
Though millions of Cubans have awaited his
return for seven months, only immediate family and 800 of the boys classmates were waiting
at the airport in Havana to welcome the "boy hero" home.
When his plane touched down at a remote terminal of Jose Marti International Airport,
there were no jubilant outbreaks or speeches, and Cuban President Fidel Castro was no
where in site. Having urged his country to spare Elian from the
"circus-like" environment the child was subject to in Miami, Castro hoped to
prove that the Cubans would not treat the Elian the same way.
Instead, Cubans celebrated his arrival silently, privately, in their own homes, as they
watched his arrival on television.
The 800 children, in their school uniforms, did jump up and down waving plastic Cuban
flags, though. Elian emerged shyly as they chanted his name and then broke into the Cuban
national anthem.
His grandparents embraced the child, and the family's motorcade quickly sped off to a
private reunion in an undisclosed location. Rumor has it that the family was to
spend Wednesday night at a special boarding school in the Havana's upscale Playa
neighborhood. Official announcements said that the stay, which would include classmates,
family and teachers, would last some two or three weeks before Elian would return home to
Cardenas and his normal day-to-day life there.
In the school, the boy's teachers must ''undertake the masterful work of making him a
model child,'' said the statement.
"your government and mine has betrayed
them all, and all of us, and is getting in bed with the enemy. It's pretty damn
frightening if you ask me. And totally immoral." Your take?
''How many more women and children must die before the world hears the
cries of the Cuban people?'' asked Miami family spokesman Armando Gutierrez.
But Lazaro Gonzalez and his daughter Marisleysis Gonzalez provided no immediate comment on
Elian's return. Earlier in the day, while exiting a prayer session, Lazaro had an
altercation with a reporter who he claimed was violating his privacy.
Castro and the Cuban government also vowed to continue their mission to change U.S.
policies, namely the trade sanctions and asylum rules that encourage the sort of illegal
migration that killed Elian's mother and led to this seven month battle.
Along those lines, a rally of 200,000 people will take place in
Manzanillo, Cuba this Saturday. ''Let us always remember that our fight has just begun,''
the announcement chimed, ''and that a long road still remains before us.''
06/28/00 5:20 EDT
With a wave and a smile, Elian and his entourage departed the USA for Cuba.
Elian and co. took off in one of two chartered planes not
long ago.
'We are very happy to be going home,'' said the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, from
Washington Dulles International Airport. He thanked those Americans who supported him and
said he hopes for better US-Cuban relations in the future.
06/28/00 12:09 EDT
Supreme Court refuses to hear the case. Elian is returning to Cuba with his Family
The Supreme Court has put an end to the long and
tumultuous international custody battle over little Elian Gonzalez.
After seven months, Elian is now clear and free to leave the United States with father,
step-mother and half brother. The family reportedly plans to depart for Cuba later today.
Rejecting a formal appeal filed by the child's Miami relatives, as well as a separate
emergency request to postpone his departure, that court announced its action in a brief
order. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy was to hear the appeal, but he referred it to the full
court for a decision.
Wednesday's order stated that the ``application for stay presented to Justice Kennedy and
by him referred to the court is denied. The petition for a writ of certiorari (the appeal)
is denied.''
In addition to his family, the six year old will be accompanied back home with the Cuban
entourage who joined him in Cuba, including some of his classmates. Gregory Craig,
attorney for Juan Miguel Gonzalez has been making arrangements.
Dashing his Miami relatives' hopes of keeping Elian Gonzalez from
returning to Cuba, a federal appeals court refused earlier today to review the custody
battle over the boy.
In early June, a three-judge panel of the Atlanta-based court ruled against the relatives,
who had requested that the court overturn the decision of the Immigration and
Naturalization Service (INS) that Elian's father, Juan Miguel should decide where his son
will live.
The Miami relatives argued that INS decisions are not necessarily law and
that they can be overturned by the appropriate court.
In order to have the decision reheard before the full court, seven of the 12 judges would
had to have approved it. The relatives sought the rehearing in a desperate attempt to
forestall what they perceive as Elian's release into Castro's arms. The 11th U.S. Circuit
Court of Appeals curtly turned the request down.
This surely won't be the end of things, though, as the relatives now have a right to
appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In order for the case to be reviewed at that level, four of the nine Supreme Court
justices will have to agree to hear the case. One of the judges could exercise the right
to grant a stay, or could opt to refer the question to the full court. Assigned to hear
emergency issues from the 11th circuit is Justice Anthony M. Kennedy.
''Any further requests for stays or for injunctive relief should be directed to the
Supreme Court,'' said Circuit Judge J.L. Edmondson of the appeals court, who announced
that as of 4 p.m. EDT Wednesday, the court's stay requiring Elian's father Juan Miguel to
keep him in the United States would be lifted. He made it clear that the appeals court
will not be granting any further motions for a stay.
Earlier this week attorneys for Juan Miguel Gonzalez countered the Miami relatives' appeal
and requested that the court dissolve the injunction that is keeping him and his son in
the United States, and away from their home in Cuba.
Most of the world is now very familiar with Elian's story. The six year old Cuban boy was
rescued by two fisherman on Thanksgiving Day, off the Florida coast. He had been floating
for nearly two days after his mother and 10 others perished in the sea when their
makeshift boat sank in their attempts to escape from Cuba to the United States.
Elian was placed in the temporary custody of distant relatives he had never met, in Miami.
Almost immediately, the INS decided he should be returned to his father. But the
relatives, who are very anti-Castro and had grown attached to the boy, refused to accept
this decision and have been fighting it ever since, to the point of blatantly disobeying
direct orders. On April 22, federal agents seized the boy in a pre-dawn raid and reunited
him with his father, who had come to the States to fetch his son.
They may be stuck in a foreign country away from home, in an endless web of red tape, but
at least father and son are together.
Exploiting
Elian
The Born Abroad Guide to Conservative Politics explores Elian as a political pawn.
Elian for Legal
Dummies
Here our guide to U.S. Politics sheds light on the legal ins and outs of the Elian case.
If Elian Goes Home The guide to US Government Information and Resources explores what Elian's
life will be like in Cuba, with basics on the Cuban government, its constitution and human
rights in the country.
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