Los Angeles Times
March 28, 2000

U.S. Relatives Refuse to Promise to Give Up Elian

           From Associated Press

                MIAMI -- Elian Gonzalez's Florida relatives lashed out at immigration authorities today and said
           they still had not signed an agreement that the government demands by Thursday promising to
           surrender the 6-year-old if they lose their court fight.
                "They said, 'If you don't sign the paper, we remove Elian.' They don't tell us how," family
           spokesman Armando Gutierrez said.
                Gutierrez and lawyers for the boy's U.S. relatives were clearly frustrated when they emerged today
           from a morning meeting with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
                "I don't know what else they want from the Lazaro Gonzalez family," Gutierrez said. "They (INS
           officials) are following orders either from Clinton's lawyers or Fidel, and they need to answer to the
           community and to the world. They are the ones who put this kid in Lazaro's home, and they just want
           him to sign a blanket statement, which is not the American way."
                Immigration officials had no immediate comment.
                The U.S. relatives have asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to overturn a
           federal judge's ruling affirming the INS decision to return Elian to his father in Cuba. The court
           scheduled arguments for the week of May 8, which could complicate any steps by the government.
                Gutierrez said he didn't know if Lazaro Gonzalez, Elian's great-uncle, would sign the agreement
           later.
                Federal authorities "don't want this kid here. They have promised Castro they will send this kid
           back and that's why they have to abide by their agreement," Gutierrez said. "And I believe they want
           Lazaro to participate in their agreement and we don't know what's going to happen, we'll know
           tomorrow."
                The INS had said Elian's temporary permission to stay in the United States would end at 9 a.m.
           Thursday unless the U.S. relatives provide the written guarantee that they will give him up in the event
           their appeals fail.
                In the back yard of the home where Elian is staying, attorneys for the family met with Lazaro
           Gonzalez after the attorneys met with INS officials. Lazaro Gonzalez became visibly upset as he spoke
           with the attorneys, covering his face with his hands and then gesturing angrily. Elian played on a swing
           set nearby.
                The agency, which demanded the agreement in a letter delivered late Monday, said the
           commitment is required by law as a condition of the "parole" that allows Elian to remain in the United
           States under the care of his great-uncle.
                Earlier, relatives' lawyer Linda Osberg-Braun insisted the family has complied with government
           demands.
                "We believe we're in compliance," she said. "We want assurances from the INS. We fear them
           revoking Elian's parole, tearing him from his family and returning him to Cuba."
                The child has been the subject of an international custody dispute since November, when fishermen
           found him floating on an inner tube off the Florida coast. His mother, who was divorced from Elian's
           father, was among 11 people who died when their boat sank during the journey from Cuba to the
           United States.
                Government officials have said they would not want to do anything to traumatize the boy. The INS
           also does not wish to provoke Miami's large Cuban community.
                About 75 demonstrators gathered outside Elian's home today in response to a call by the
           anti-Castro Democracy Movement, which urged them to be prepared to form a human chain around
           the home if the government tries to remove the child.
                "The people are very angry and I think there are going to be very ugly days here in Miami," said
           Abel Lopez, 28. "When you keep on punching the wounds, they are going to be opened."
                Jorge Gonzalez, who is no relation to the family, has been standing in front of the house and letting
           visitors in and out of the gate. "We are starting protests, nothing illegal, just calm, to show the
           government that we can move this city if we want to," he said.
                In an apparent effort to increase American support for their battle to keep Elian, the child's
           relatives last week allowed ABC's Diane Sawyer to spend two days with Elian. The result was his first
           extended interview, being broadcast this week on "Good Morning America."
                In today's segment, ABC said the boy indicated he doesn't want to return to Cuba but decided not
           to have him say it on the air because of the "inflamed climate" surrounding the case. In Monday's
           segment, the boy said his mother wasn't really dead, saying through an interpreter that "She must have
           been picked up here in Miami somewhere. She must have lost her memory, and just doesn't know I'm
           here."