Elian's Miami relatives turned away from meeting with father

Cuban boy said to be 'at ease' after pre-dawn raid

April 22, 2000
Web posted at: 8:06 p.m. EDT (0006 GMT)

In this story: Father, son and family in seclusion Agents whisk Elian away Elian staying in U.S. for now Miami family distraught Emotions run high in Miami Cuba quiet after reunion RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Just hours after Elian Gonzalez was snatched away from his Miami relatives' home in a pre-dawn raid by armed U.S. immigration agents, members of the boy's Miami family and Sen. Bob Smith were turned away after trying to enter Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, where the boy is staying with his father.

Earlier Saturday, the Miami relatives had met with Smith at his Capitol Hill offices. The topic of dicussion at that meeting was not immediately available.

From left, facing camera: Delfin, Marisleysis and Lazaro Gonzalez arrive at Washington's Reagan National Airport

Sen. Smith, R-New Hampshire, is familiar with Elian's case. Last January 8, he visited the Miami family's Little Havana home to offer his support. During that visit he said Elian approached him and asked him in Spanish to help him remain in the United States.

U.S. immigration agents seized 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez from the home of his Miami relatives in a forceful but peaceful pre-dawn raid Saturday.

Authorities said removal of the boy -- at 5 a.m. EDT after a night of failed negotiations between the relatives and Attorney General Janet Reno -- took no more than three to four minutes and he was whisked to a van outside with little interference.

Lazaro, Delfin and Marisleysis Gonzalez arrived in the nation's capital Saturday afternoon. Not far away, at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, Elian and his father Juan Miguel Gonzalez were spending their first day together in nearly five months.

VIDEO Marisleysis Gonzalez, cousin and caregiver to Cuban boy refugee Elian Gonzalez, shows the damage to her home allegedly caused by INS agents. Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K The grandmothers and other relatives of Cuban boy refugee Elian Gonzalez speak Saturday at a rally in Cuba. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K INS agents raid the Gonzalez family home in Miami, FL, to take Cuban refugee Elian into custody, and turn him over to his father awaiting in Maryland. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K One of the fishermen who rescued Elian from the sea tells his version of his encounter with an INS agent. (April 22) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K U.S. President Clinton praises the decision by Attorney General Janet Reno and the INS to take Elian Gonzalez from his great-uncle's home in Miami. (April 22) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Attorney General Janet Reno says the decision to retrieve Elian by force was the last resort. (April 22) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K INS agents remove Elian Gonzalez from his great-uncle's Miami home at 5 a.m. Saturday. (April 22) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     MESSAGE BOARD US/Cuba relations     AUDIO Clinton tells why he supports the federal action to seize Elian Gonzalez 181 K/16 sec. AIFF or WAVsound Marisleysis Gonzalez, Elian's cousin, gives CNN an emotional account of Saturday's events 1MB/55 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 306K/29 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 922K/33 sec. AIFF or WAV sound 1MB/55 sec. AIFF or WAV sound     ALSO Enraged Cuban-Americans take to Miami streets Reno: U.S. government had 'no other option' Cousin gives her account of Miami raid Read the 11th Circuit Court's April 19 decision

Justice Department officials said they would not try to block any meeting between the Miami relatives and Juan Gonzalez, and that whether such a meeting occurred would be up to Elian's father.

The 6-year-old boy was said to be "at ease" and laughing following his reunion with his father Saturday at the air force base.

"He was laughing with his little brother Hianny, he was hugging his father," said Gregory Craig, a lawyer representing Juan Gonzalez. "He was totally at ease." Craig said he did not witness the reunion.

"I saw Juan Miguel and Elian within minutes afterward as they got out of the car and came to the location where they're going to be staying for the next couple of days on the air force base," he said. "It was clear that there was huge relief on Juan Miguel's face and a wonderful smile and ... comfortable physical contact between Elian and his father."

The lawyer said he saw no evidence that Elian had been traumatized by the morning's experience. "I saw no evidence that this person had gone through a traumatic experience."

"The early evidence is that Elian is in good shape, he's a strong boy," he said.

Craig also said the connection between father and son was evident at the meeting. "When you see the two of them together, you realize that by keeping them apart something terrible was done."

Father, son and family in seclusion

Sources told CNN that Elian will stay secluded with his father for a few days at Andrews Air Force Base for what federal authorities referred to as quiet time. His stepmother and half-brother are with Juan Miguel Gonzalez.

U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno said the family eventually will be moved to another location, but not to the home where Juan Miguel Gonzalez had been staying -- the Bethesda, Maryland, home of Cuba's top diplomat in the United States.

Cuban officials told CNN the family will move "outside of the spotlight" -- to give them a chance to bond.

In Miami, about 200 demonstrators threw rocks at police, set tires and rubbish containers on fire and trashed a bus stop in a business district of Little Havana Saturday afternoon to protest the forced separation of Elian Gonzalez from his Miami relatives.

Elian was taken away from the home of great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, in a 5 a.m. raid Reno had authorized minutes earlier.

Agents wearing jackets that said INS (for U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service) or the words Border Patrol on them surrounded the Gonzalez's Little Havana home about 5 a.m. The agents broke down a chain-link fence, knocked on the door, then kicked it in when nobody answered.

Elian was found in a closet in the arms of Donato Dalrymple, one of the fishermen who rescued him from the Atlantic Ocean on Thanksgiving Day.

Photos taken by an Associated Press photographer inside the home during the raid showed a helmeted agent wearing goggles holding a rifle and reaching for Elian. Agents took Elian out of Dalrymple's arms.

Reno defended the use of arms and said her office had received reports of weapons in the home.

"When law enforcement goes into a situation like that, it must be prepared for the unexpected," Reno said.

Reno said eight agents entered the home, including a Spanish-speaking female agent who had been given specific instructions on what to say to the boy. There were about 130 agents outside the house as backup. Reno said the raid lasted about three minutes.

News crews videotaped the female agent running from the home with Elian in her arms. They got into a white van and drove away.

"This has been a very emotional case for everyone involved," Reno said. "The most important thing is that Elian is safe and that no one was seriously hurt."

Authorities said Elian was forcibly removed from his great- uncle's home after the Miami family and the government failed to agree on a way to voluntarily turn over the child.

Negotiations had gone into the wee hours of the morning, officials said.

"Up until the last, we tried every way we could to encourage Lazaro Gonzalez to voluntarily hand over the child to his father," said Reno. "Unfortunately, the Miami relatives rejected our efforts, leaving us no other option but the enforcement action."

President Clinton said he supported Reno's handling of the case.

"The law has been upheld, and that was the right thing to do," he said outside the White House. "I hope with time and support, Elian and his father will have the opportunity to be a strong family again."

Juan Miguel Gonzalez came to the United States on April 6 with his wife and their 6-month-old son. He had repeatedly asked to be reunited with Elian.

Craig said now that the two have been reunited, both would remain in the United States while the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta decides whether Elian should get the asylum hearing requested by his Miami relatives.

Marisleysis, left, and Lazaro aboard the flight Saturday to Washington

The court has set a May 11 hearing on the asylum request and has issued an injunction barring the child from leaving the United States in the interim.

"Juan Miguel is an honorable man. He has given his word. He will stay in the United States so long as the appeals process is under way," Craig said.

Reno also said Elian and his father would stay in the United States for now.

"In accordance with the court of appeals ruling, we will take every step necessary to ensure that Elian does not leave the country while the court of appeals injunction is in place." The court has issued an injunction forbidding Elian from leaving the country while his appeal is under consideration.

"I thought this was a country of freedom," said Marisleysis Gonzalez, the 21-year-old woman who has cared for Elian since his rescue. "Now they've really done the harm ... they have really psychologically (hurt Elian)."

"It was one of the most disgraceful moments for our system and our government that I can recall," said Kendall Coffey, attorney for Elian's Miami relatives. "It was an hour of shame ... of betrayal of a child."

Elian has been staying with his Miami family since he was rescued off the coast of Florida by Dalrymple and another fisherman on November 25. The boy had floated on an inner tube for more 50 hours after a small aluminum boat carrying a group of Cuban immigrants to the United States overturned.

Elian's mother and 10 others drowned. In addition to Elian, two adults survived.

Emotions run high in Miami

In the hours after Elian was taken from Miami, protesters packed the streets around Lazaro Gonzalez's Little Havana home.

Elian and his 6-month-old half-brother Hianny on Saturday at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland, in a photo taken by their father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez

The protests outside the Miami home were peaceful, with some demonstrators holding hands and praying. But by midday, protesters had set a fire in an intersection in a business district a few blocks away in the heart of Little Havana, burning tires, posters and a trash bin.

Miami police officers in riot gear fired tear gas to break up the crowd and stood elbow-to-elbow to keep protesters back while firefighters put out the blaze.

News video showed several protesters being taken into custody.

The State Department said Saturday there has been no official communication between the U.S. and Cuban governments since Elian was reunited with his father.

Two State Department officials told CNN that no Cuban officials in Washington or in Havana has called or asked for a meeting.

In Cuba, word that Elian had been taken from his Miami family was broadcast in a series of announcements on Cuban radio Saturday morning.

Cuban television also showed images of the raid on the Gonzalez house.

But the Cuban government issued a statement urging Cubans to remain calm. The radio report said the government did not want to see any celebrations because those images might be transmitted by to the United States and negatively affect the ongoing legal proceedings over Elian.

Correspondents Mark Potter, Patty Davis, Martin Savidge, Susan Candiotti, Brian Cabell and Justice Department Correspondent Pierre Thomas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Federal agents seize Elian in pre-dawn raid
April 22, 2000
Reno ponders force, other options, to end Elian standoff
April 22, 2000
Elian's father pleads for son; Clinton backs boy's return
April 21, 2000
Elian's father pleads for U.S. public support; mass protest held in Havana
April 20, 2000
Transferring custody of Elian not ruled out, Reno says
April 19, 2000
Elian's well-being debated as court considers case
April 18, 2000
Unless barred by court order, INS to remove Elian from Miami home
April 17, 2000

U.S. Attorney General
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
Executive Office of the Governor of Florida
Eleventh Circuit Published Opinions
United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit
LibertyForElian.org - Foundation to Help Save Elian
Granma Internacional Digital, Cuba
  •  Kidnap in Miami
Cubaweb
Cuban American National Foundation

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