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Image of Virgin Mary said to appear in Elian's Miami home

March 28, 2000
Web posted at: 3:15 a.m. EST (0815 GMT)

MIAMI (CNN) -- The Miami relatives fighting to retain custody of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez claim that an image in an oval mirror that hangs in a bedroom in their home depicts the Virgin Mary, offering evidence, they say, that he is blessed and should remain in the United States.

On Monday, the family of Lazaro Gonzalez, a great-uncle who currently has temporary custody of Elian, allowed a TV camera operator to enter the room and videotape the image.

The video was taken with the lights off and shows a blue reflection in the lower portion of the mirror.

A family spokesman said the boy has seen the image since he arrived in the United States last November 25. But Elian's cousin, Marisleysis Gonzalez, who also lives at the house, claims she had only begun to see the image recently.

It's not the first time that the Elian story has included reports of images depicting the Virgin Mary. Just last weekend another image claimed by some to picture the Virgin Mary appeared in the window of a nearby bank. Some said the image offered proof that Elian is blessed and should not be forced by U.S. immigration officials to return to his father in Cuba.

Elian was found last November floating alone on an inner tube off the Florida coast, one of three survivors of a shipwrecked immigration voyage from Cuba to the United States. Elian's mother and step-father were among the 11 people killed during the trip.

Since then Elian has become the object of an international custody battle between Havana and his anti-Castro relatives in Miami. The U.S. Justice Department has ruled that the boy's legal guardian is his father, who lives in Cuba.

His father has accused Elian's mother of kidnapping the boy when she brought him on the voyage, and says he should be returned immediately.

Elian's Miami relatives say Elian will be harmed if forced return to Cuba, and would have a better life if allowed to remain in the United States.

Last week a federal judge ruled that the Justice Department has final authority over Elian's fate, not the U.S. court system, which Elian's great-uncle Gonzalez had petitioned to grant the boy political asylum in the United States.

Thursday, a U.S. appellate court said it would hear Lazaro's appeal of last week's ruling.

But that announcement was followed by a threat by U.S. immigration officials to revoke Elian's parole to remain in the United States, unless his Miami relatives promised to hand over the child if the appeal fails.



RELATED STORIES:
INS threatens to revoke parole status for Elian by Thursday
March 28, 2000
Justice Department: Elian's Miami relatives not in compliance with ultimatum
March 27, 2000
Elian's Miami relatives file for expedited appeal
March 27, 2000
Lawyers for Elian's Miami relatives crafting response to Justice ultimatum
March 27, 2000
Time running out for Elian's relatives to accept expedited appeal
March 25, 2000
INS refuses to put Elian's fate in hands of arbitrator
March 24, 2000
Reno seeks Elian's 'prompt' return to Cuba
March 23, 2000
U.S. won't wait forever on appeals process for Elian
March 22, 2000

RELATED SITES:
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
LibertyForElian.org - Foundation to Help Save Elian

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