By John Ward Anderson
Washington Post Foreign Service
Sunday , April 23, 2000 ; A22

HAVANA, April 22 –– Cubans reacted with subdued joy and relief today that Elian Gonzalez, who has become a national
celebrity here, was taken from the home of his Miami relatives and reunited with his father in the Washington area.

Many said the early-morning operation--televised here about four hours after it occurred--was long overdue. Rather than
trumpeting it as a political victory for their country or its leader, Fidel Castro, most hailed the action as a victory for the boy and
his father, who had not seen each other for five months.

"It's marvelous, because now he's with the person who loves him the most," said Anaisa Simon, 30, who was riding bikes
around the Cuban capital with her 8-year-old cousin. "I don't think the Miami family was ever interested in honest negotiations.
They were just using this poor boy for politics and money."

"He's been very traumatized by this whole ordeal, so we're happy he's finally back with his father," said Vanesa Ibanez
Rodriguez, 16, as she strolled with her sister along Havana's waterfront. "This is where he was born, and we hope he returns
home soon."

In Elian's home town of Cardenas, the boy's grandfather, Juan Gonzalez, joined neighbors in a small street celebration in front
of the family home, according to radio reports.

Gonzalez said Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, had called him about a half-hour after Elian was removed from the Miami
home to report the news. The entire family felt "great emotion and immense joy," he said.

At a rally outside Havana tonight, the family took the stage before tens of thousands of people and thanked them for their
support. They expressed gratitude to the people in the United States and to U.S. politicians who have helped move the case
toward a resolution.

At the same rally, held at a sugar factory that Castro used as his command center during the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, the
Cuban leader spoke for more than three hours, mostly about Elian and the fight to return him to Cuba. Castro praised President
Clinton, Attorney General Janet Reno and the Immigration and Naturalization Service for a "perfect" operation, adding that the
Cuban government had passed along its full support for the raid before it was staged.

"We are sharing this victory" with the U.S. authorities and public who supported Elian's return to his father, Castro said. "Today
is a day of truce--the only one in 41 years. . . . Tomorrow, the struggle continues."

"I am very happy that the boy finally is in his father's arms," Elian's maternal grandmother Raquel Rodriguez said, wiping away
tears as she stood on a stage before Castro's speech. Rodriguez's only child, Elisabeth Brotons--Elian's mother--perished in the
sea journey that launched the custody battle over the boy.

Nevertheless, residents of this Communist island 90 miles from Florida said they were worried that Elian remains in the United
States under a court order not to leave, and that the courts could interminably delay and even prevent his return to Cuba.

"What's going to happen now? This thing isn't over," said Eduardo Machine, a Communist party activist in Havana. "A U.S.
court can do anything, as we've learned. Until he's back in Cuba, I won't be resting."

By the usual standards here, the Cuban government notified its people of the events remarkably quickly. The first bulletin
announcing that U.S. law enforcement officials had entered the Miami home of Lazaro Gonzalez was released at 6:37
a.m--about 90 minutes after the operation occurred--and broadcast over Cuban radio a short time later.

At 7:15 a.m., a second government announcement asked people not to demonstrate or celebrate in the streets, but to act in a
"serene, discreet and dignified" manner. The bulletin warned that "any other form of behavior could negatively influence the
future evolution of the situation."

National television showed the first film clips of the operation taking Elian from the Miami home about 9:45 a.m. and continued
broadcasting numerous unedited clips from CNN's Spanish-language channel.

The government's warning to remain calm was necessary because Elian has become a sort of national icon in Cuba,
representing the 41-year battle Fidel Castro has waged with his arch-rival just across the Straits of Florida. Posters of Elian are
plastered across the island. People on the streets wear T-shirts demanding his return. Billboards ask that no one forget him.

The Cuban government, in nightly television shows, has avoided blaming the American people and government for the boy's
predicament, and has accused the boy's Miami relatives of being common criminals who kidnapped him.

At the same time, many Cubans fault the U.S. government for being too beholden to Cuban exile groups in Miami--referred to
here as "the Miami mafia"--and for not moving forcefully enough to end the standoff sooner.

"At last, justice has prevailed," said Caridad Diaz, a special education teacher in the town of Santiago de Cuba.

"The Cuban people, with the exemplary fight, and the American people who weren't fooled are the winners of this fight," she
said. "But with all our joy, we shouldn't forget that Elian has been a victim of all of this."

                                 © 2000 The Washington Post Company