from:

Janet Reno bites the bullet on Elian

April 7, 2000
Web posted at: 7:25 PM EDT (2325 GMT)

By Tony Karon

(TIME.com) -- Having satisfied herself that Juan Miguel Gonzalez is speaking his true heart, Janet Reno is steeling herself to go the hard yard. After meeting with Elian Gonzalez's father Friday, Reno announced that the boy's Miami relatives have been instructed to surrender him next week so that custody can be restored to his father. "According to Justice insiders, Reno wanted to meet Gonzalez to make her own judgment about the motivations behind his request to reclaim his son," says TIME Washington correspondent Elaine Shannon. "She wanted to be able to say she had looked Juan Miguel in the eye and questioned him outside the presence of Cuban officials. After this morning's meeting, she seemed satisfied by his responses."

RELATED TIME Magazine Big Battle for a Little Boy Poll What Next for Elian Gonzalez? Discuss What should be done for Elian? Newsfile Cuba

Accompanied only by his wife, child and U.S. lawyer, Gonzalez passionately restated his desire to take Elian home to Cuba. The problem facing Reno is that although the Miami relatives who currently have Elian have indicated that they would comply with the law, they have shown no indication that they intend to cooperate in easing the boy's transition back into his father's care. In other words, the Miami family and the demonstrators, who on Friday announced renewed civil disobedience protests, plan to make returning the boy to his father as politically painful as possible for Washington. Upon regaining custody of his son, Juan Miguel Gonzalez would be legally free to take Elian home to Cuba, although he's previously indicated a willingness to wait out the appeal process if an orderly custody transfer was agreed.

Although the Clinton administration has studiously avoided confrontations with the Miami family and their supporters for most of this crisis, the arrival of Gonzalez senior in Washington Thursday has changed the situation. Now Reno is confronted with a legally straightforward situation in which the father of a six-year-old boy has come to the U.S. and demanded the custody to which the law has recognized he is entitled. Reno insisted that she plans to implement the law, and invited the Miami relatives to meet with a panel of psychologists to discuss how -- rather than whether -- the transfer could be undertaken in a way that minimizes Elian's trauma.

But if the Miami relatives choose not to cooperate, the Attorney General appears to be ready for a fight. "Janet Reno has made clear that she intends to take every possible step to ensure that Elian is reunited with his father in a fair, prompt and orderly manner," says TIME Washington correspondent Elaine Shannon. "But with everything that's been said so far, that may still mean that some measure of force will have to be used, because somebody will have to go and take the child out of the Miami house. Her main concern will be to minimize the trauma that will involve for Elian." But the government's decision, based on the law, appears no longer to be up for discussion.

Copyright © 2000 Time Inc.