Cuban Boy's Father Visited

The New York Times
January 4, 2000

Cuban Boy's Father Visited

By REUTERS

          HAVANA, Jan. 3 -- National Council of Churches leaders met
          today with the family of Elián González, 6, the shipwreck survivor,
          in the custody dispute over the boy.

          "We are more convinced than we ever were that this boy belongs with
          this family in Cuba," said a council leader, Dr. Joan Brown Campbell,
          standing with the Rev. Juan Miguel González on his doorstep in
          Cárdenas. Dr. Brown Campbell and another council leader, the Rev.
          Oscar Bolioli, spent the morning with Elián's father and grandparents in
          Cárdenas, two hours east of Havana.

          In a news conference, Elián's father said, "Once again, we are convinced
          the boy will return but I have asked that through their mediation there
          may be an opportunity to send me the boy as soon as possible."

          Elián's closest family, all in Cuba, have appealed for his return since he
          was rescued at sea on Nov. 25. The boy had been in a boat filled with
          illegal Cuban migrants that had capsized. Elián's mother, divorced from
          the father, died along with 10 others.