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Janet Reno faces a tough call over Elian

April 7, 2000
Web posted at: 10:10 AM EDT (1410 GMT)

By Tony Karon

(TIME.com) -- Unless Juan Miguel Gonzalez comes to her office to ask for political asylum, Janet Reno now faces the toughest call of her career. The attorney general is meeting Friday in Washington with the father of Elian Gonzalez to discuss reuniting him with his son, while down in Miami the mood is turning ugly as demonstrators around the home of Lazaro Gonzalez vow to throw their bodies in the way of anyone attempting to move the boy.

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Negotiations between the INS and the Miami relatives broke down Thursday, prompting the government agency to begin a process of terminating Lazaro's custody by next Wednesday. INS officials have indicated Gonzalez will be instructed before that on how to turn Elian over, and would be in violation of the law if he failed to do so. But five days is a long time to allow the anti-Castro exile community to build up a head of steam in their efforts to keep Elian in Miami, and they've vowed to make any transfer of custody as politically painful as possible for Washington.

Although the Clinton administration has studiously avoided confrontations with the Miami family and their supporters for most of this crisis, the arrival of Juan Miguel Gonzalez in Washington Thursday has changed the situation. Now, Reno is confronted with a legally straightforward situation in which the father of a 6-year-old boy has come to the U.S. and demanded the custody to which the law has recognized he is entitled. This is being refused by his great-uncle, whose only legal claim is the about-to-be revoked temporary custody bestowed by the INS.

Although he's not legally obliged to do so, government officials say Juan Miguel Gonzalez has agreed to remain in the U.S. with Elian until the completion of his relatives' appeal process. More optimistic may be Reno's reported hope that Juan Miguel Gonzalez will fly down to Miami and coax his uncle into handing over the boy. The Miami relatives are insisting that he come to their house and settle the matter privately with them.

But there's little to suggest that the father is prepared to even momentarily indulge the claims of the "distant relatives" he slammed Thursday for submitting his son to "cruel psychological pressure" by parading Elian before TV cameras in rallies and an interview. And the fact that the psychologist engaged by the Miami relatives began telling the media Thursday that Juan Miguel had been abusive with his son and that Elian was afraid of his father suggests that the Miami relatives aren't seriously expecting a family reconciliation. That leaves Janet Reno facing the unhappy prospect of implementing the law in a situation where many have vowed to break it in order to keep Elian in Miami.

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