MSNBC
January 25, 2000
Elian set to meet grandmothers
MIAMI, Fla., Jan. 26 - Another dramatic chapter
is set to unfold on Wednesday in the Elian
Gonzalez custody clash. After an order from the
U.S. Justice Department, a meeting will occur
between Elian and his grandmothers.
Authorities say the meeting is set occur around 4:00 p.m.
at the home of Barry University President Sister
Jeanne O’Laughlin in Miami Beach.
However, the grandmothers are still in Washington, D.C..
The fight to keep Elian Gonzalez in the United States looked
as if it had stalled on Tuesday, when Elian’s two
grandmothers awoke to a winter wonderland in
Washington, D.C. There, they were supposed to meet with
Congress. But Congress and other government agencies
were shut down due to a blizzard. Elian’s South Florida
family had plans to leave for Washington early Tuesday, but
those plans were put on hold at least until the storm passes.
Elian’s two grandmothers arrived at the Tamiami Airport
in southwest Miami-Dade County Monday afternoon to see
their grandson and hopefully take him back to Cuba. But,
the meeting never took place.
It was a dramatic scene at the Tamiami Airport Monday
evening. After spending over four hours at the airport, the
grandmothers decided to go back to Washington, D.C. As
the plane was taking off, Elian’s great uncles were entering
the airport, without Elian, to meet with the grandmothers.
This all happened after the grandmothers refused to come to
Elian’s South Florida family’s home where dinner was
awaiting them. They never made that dinner appointment
because the grandmothers were hoping to meet with Elian
privately at a neutral site. At the same time the South
Florida family refused to meet with the two women
anywhere other than at their house. It was a dispute that
apparently was never settled, as the the grandmothers left
without ever visiting Elian or any other member of his family.
The two women, since their arrival in the United States, had
stated they would not come to Miami. Both Mariel Quintana
and Raquel Rodriguez appeared on NBC’s “Today” show on
Monday, saying they feared going to South Florida because of
threats made on their lives. But, the grandmothers apparently
changed their minds and made the trip on Monday. However,
they never left the safety of the airport.
Elian’s South Florida family may also be intensifying this
international battle, as they will likely take their case to
Capitol Hill, where Congress could introduce legislation to
grant U-S citizenship to the 6-year-old.
Mariel Quintana and Raquel Rodriguez were surrounded
by 2,000 well wishers during a church service in New York
City on Sunday. They denounced the South Florida family’s
petition to Congress.
“They can’t make him a U.S. citizen, with whose
authorization? The only person in charge of that boy is Juan
Miguel Gonzalez– the boy’s father. How are they going to
make a 6-year-old sign the papers? He can barely read and
write,” one grandmother declared.
The move to Congress comes after a dramatic chapter
unfolded in this international custody case on Friday when
Elian’s two grandmothers arrived in the United States.
The two women arrived at John F. Kennedy International
Airport shortly after 3:30 in the afternoon on Friday aboard
a Lear jet chartered by the National Council of Churches.
Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, remained in Cuba.
Upon their arrival, the grandmothers held a news
conference at the airport. Juan Miguel’s mother, Mariel Quintana
expressed her thanks to U-S officials who have been trying to
allow her grandson to return home to Cuba. She said that would
allow an end to what she called “this tragedy that is so hard for us
as a family.”
Raquel Rodriguez, the mother of Elian’s mother, told
reporters that she wants to preserve the memory of her
daughter – who died during the ill-fated boat trip from
which Elian was rescued. She said the way to preserve that
memory is for Elian to be in Cuba with his grandmothers.
The grandmothers are traveling with officials from the
U.S. Council of Churches, the religious group that is
representing Elian’s father’s plight to get his son back. The
Clinton Administration granted visas to the grandmothers on
Thursday.
The visas were issued as representatives of the National
Council of Churches were flying to Cuba to meet with the
grandmothers and with Cuban government officials. The
council strongly supports the Cuban government’s position
that the boy should be reunited with his father. The women
are making the trip to make “an appeal to the American
people,” said Bob Edgar, general secretary of the National
Council of Churches.
This after Attorney General Janet Reno said on Thursday
she’ll let the courts decide the fate of Elian Gonzalez, but
stood by her statement that the 6-year-old should go back
to Cuba.
Meanwhile, the fight for Elian Gonzalez had already
moved to another level on Wednesday when his South
Florida relatives filed a federal lawsuit in Miami. The
lawsuit, named Elian Gonzalez vs. Janet Reno, seeks relief
from the Immigration and Naturalization Service order that
would return the boy to his father in Cuba.
Attorney General Janet Reno has said that the only way
the ruling can be challenged is in federal court, and now that
is exactly what is happening. This came after a state court
ruled in the family’s favor giving temporary custody of Elian
to his great uncle in Miami.
Another group, The American Coalition for Fathers and
Children, said they plan to lobby for the return of Elian to
his father in Cuba. They also promised to oppose a bid in
Congress to grand citizenship or permanent residency to the
boy.
Two Fridays ago, hundreds of thousands of people in
Cuba took part in a massive organized protest. This was in
the wake of the refusal of the INS and Janet Reno to send
Elian Gonzalez back on the original deadline.
The march took place on the famous Malecon, which is
on the waterfront in Havana. The crowd was supposedly
made up of mothers and grandmothers, who say they value
the family and want Elian’s family to be together. The
women called the protests, “The March of the Combatant
Mothers.”
On the Wednesday before that, Attorney General Janet
Reno overruled a family court judge’s decision, saying a
state court does not have jurisdiction over federal
proceedings. Reno backed the INS decision to grant full
custody of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez to his father in Cuba.
Family court Judge Rosa Rodriguez had made two
rulings several weeks ago. The first was that her court has
jurisdiction in the case. Then she also issued a temporary
order granting protective custody to Elian’s paternal great
uncle. That decision would have allowed Elian’s Miami
relatives to fight for permanent custody of him. She also
ruled that he is not to be removed from the United States
until a full hearing on his custody is held on March sixth.
But Janet Reno made it clear that the INS’s decision to
grant custody of Elian to his father could only be challenged
in a federal court. So now that’s where the case will likely
end up-in federal court.
Cuban-American protests over the INS decision to give
Elian Gonzalez back to his father have been put on hold for
now, as Cuban-American leaders wait to see what will
happen now that the court has ruled in their favor.
If demonstrations should begin again, a spokesperson for
the family of Elian Gonzalez has asked protestors to
demonstrate peacefully in support of their cause. This
statement came after protests several weeks ago in Miami
disrupted thousands of people, led to dozens of arrests, and
left several hurt. It got so bad that at one point police had to
fire tear gas to break up a mob of unruly protestors.
One night a tear gas incident took place, as a line
of police in riot gear inched toward an unruly mob. The
mob was throwing bottles and harassing the police
horses giving police no choice but to use the gas.
Many are hoping these demonstrations will force a
change in the INS ruling to send the six-year-old boy back
to Cuba.
“He deserves a day in court after surviving the ordeal he
did,” charged one protestor.
Arrests continued as Miami Commissioner Tomas
Regalado argued with police on behalf of an elderly man.
Several officers held back the angry commissioner.
Police said keeping the peace while preserving
protestors’ rights is difficult.
“We’re dancing a real fine line here. We’ve got to allow
these people the right to protest and we’ve got to protect
the rights of people who just want free access to and from
the city. And it’s a very passionate issue,” said Miami police
Lt. Bill Schwartz.
Regalado admitted many in the mob were just using
Elian’s cause as an excuse for mayhem.
“These people are just here trying to make a scene and
it’s very sad,” the commissioner said.
The protests began weeks ago, when hundreds of
protestors broke through police barricades and spilled onto
the streets of downtown Miami. Traffic came to a halt as
demonstrators waving Cuban flags and anti-Castro signs
marched through intersections. Police arrested at least 135
people, including two high-profile leaders in the exile
community.
The peaceful yet vocal protest, which began Thursday
morning at the Claude Pepper Federal Building, erupted
when protestors rushed through the intersection of
Northwest First Avenue and Flagler Street. While they
headed east, one group led by longtime exile protestor
Miguel Saavdera sat down in the middle of Flagler and
remained there.
Chanting “Libertad, Libertad”, hundreds of other protestors
set out for the
Port of Miami, which is outside the jurisdiction of the
City of Miami. Police in full riot gear were deployed to keep
the situation under control.
Protestors set up a human chain at both the entrance and
exit to the Port of Miami. The Port, which is a major
economic hub of South Florida, was successfully shut
down. All of this was accomplished by a relatively small
crowd.
Many motorists were angered by the inconvenience.
“I think it is truly unfair of these people to demonstrate in
the middle of the street, in the middle of the day, and
inconvenience the entire City of Miami,” charged one
commuter.
However, one driver we spoke with did not seem to
mind: “I agree with it 100 percent. I don’t want the kid
being sent back to Cuba. I want him to live in freedom like
we live in.”
Within minutes, Miami-Dade police began to make
their move. Their philosophy was much different than
the City of Miami. Miami-Dade starting taking down
protestors and arrested more than 50 people,
including the leader of the Democracia Movement
Ramon Saul Sanchez and the head of Brothers to
the Rescue, Jose Basulto.
But Miguel Saavdera, because he stayed within the City
of Miami, was not arrested. During the rest of the day, other
smaller demonstrations broke out and some other arrests
were made, especially at the corner of Flagler and Red
Road.
In Cuba, Castro is urging Cubans to continue
demonstrating until Elian is returned. Castro attended a rally
in Havana in the boy’s honor several weeks ago. Streets
were calm around the Cardenas home of Elian’s father,
Juan Miguel Gonzalez.
Many on the island say the INS did the right thing.
Castro also warned Cubans that South Florida exiles would
“proceed with all their resources to impede or delay” the
boy’s return.
Elian was only one of three people to survive a deadly
float to freedom from Cuba. His mother, stepfather and
several other refugees died on that doomed boat trip. The
boy was found off the coast of Fort Lauderdale on
Thanksgiving Day after two days of clinging to an inner
tube.