Cuba diplomats summoned to explain alleged pummeling of protesters

April 19, 2000
Web posted at: 12:35 a.m. EDT (0435 GMT)

In this story: Court decision awaited Doctor describes Elian as hostage Mood in Miami called bleak RELATED STORIES, SITES

From staff and wire reports

WASHINGTON -- To "express concern" over allegations that people from the Cuban diplomatic mission pummeled protesters who favor keeping Elian Gonzalez in the United States, the U.S. has summoned top Cuban diplomats to appear at the State Department on Wednesday.

The State Department wants the diplomats "to explain the incident," and it plans to pass a "diplomatic note" to spell out U.S. displeasure over the alleged altercation, one State Department official said.

A diplomatic note is the standard way that governments which do not have diplomatic relations with each other officially communicate.

VIDEO CNN's Mark Potter looks at how Elian spent Tuesday while adults continued to argue over his fate. (April 17) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas looks at the dispute over Dr. Irwin Redlener's assessment of what should be done in the Elian Gonzalez case. QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K Dr. Irwin Redlener, a pediatrician advising the federal government, tells CNN why he thinks Elian should be removed from Miami and reunited with his father. (April 18) QuickTime Play Real 28K 80K Windows Media 28K 80K     RESOURCES Who's who in the Elian Gonzalez case     ALSO Miami's bill for Elian near $1 million and rising     MESSAGE BOARD US/Cuba relations

On Tuesday, State Department officials spoke with Cuban diplomats by phone to say the incident was "intolerable," also to call for Wednesday's meeting, one official said.

About a dozen demonstrators have said they were assaulted late Friday outside the Cuban Interests Section in Washington by members of the diplomatic mission. They say they suffered minor injuries and that some of them needed medical attention.

Meanwhile, Cuban exiles and U.S. conservatives say a U.N. resolution -- denouncing communist-ruled Cuba as a repressor of political dissent and freedom of religion -- demonstrates that Elian should not be returned to what they call the "tropical gulag."

In Geneva on Tuesday, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights censured Cuba for the second consecutive year for what it said is "the continued violation of human rights and fundamental freedoms."

U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, said in a statement, "It is bitterly ironic that the Clinton administration is rushing to send Elian Gonzalez back to a country that has just been singled out by the U.N. for its systematic violation of human rights."

The North Carolina Republican said Cuban President Fidel Castro's government had unleashed the worst crackdown in Cuba in a decade, arresting 600 dissidents in the last five months.

The Clinton administration has pushed for Elian's return to his father, ruling that only he can speak for his son on immigration matters. Elian's Miami relatives say he will have a better life in the United States. They have attempted to portray his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, as a pawn of Castro.

Both sides in the debate are keeping an eye on the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta.

A panel there -- composed of three judges -- is considering a request by Elian's Miami relatives who want to prevent the boy's return to Cuba pending the outcome of legal appeals due to stretch into next month.

That's acceptable to Juan Gonzalez, but only if he has custody during the wait. The relatives insist on meeting with Elian's father at a neutral site without being required to surrender the boy.

The federal government hopes the appeals court will order Lazaro Gonzalez to hand over Elian -- something the boy's great-uncle refused to do last week when the Immigration and Naturalization Service gave him similar instructions.

Redlener says Elian is under a significant amount of duress and should be removed from his Miami relatives' home 464K/43 sec. AIFF or WAV sound

Meanwhile, despite criticism, Dr. Irwin Redlener, who is advising the government, is not backing down from his earlier assessment that Elian is "in a state of imminent danger to his physical and emotional well-being in a home that I consider to be psychologically abusive."

Redlener compared the home video that the relatives released to the media, in which Elian tells his father he does not want to return to Cuba, to a captive reading a script.

The tape shows "obvious signs of a very distressed, angry and coached young boy being exploited ... much the same as we'd see in a hostage situation," Redlener, who has not met Elian, told CNN on Tuesday.

Critics said Redlener's call for law enforcement officials to immediately remove Elian is a public relations ploy by the government.

"That psychiatrist is simply a hatchet man for the Clinton administration," said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, R-Florida.

"If he has not been involved with Elian personally or the family, he has very little ground to issue a definitive opinion about his (Elian's) well-being, whether physical or psychological," said Dr. Jose Carro of the Cuban Pediatric Society in Exile.

Redlener told CNN, "Whether I see him or not, the evidence (that Elian is suffering from psychological abuse) is already there." That evidence, he said, includes the videotape. He also said Elian once bit a therapist brought in by the Miami relatives to meet with the boy.

Despite his criticism of the Miami family, Redlener says he recommends that Elian's U.S. relatives play a role in a custody transfer to lessen the traumatic impact on the child.

A court ruling in Washington's favor could lead to immediate federal action to remove Elian from the house in Miami's Little Havana neighborhood where he has lived since his rescue at sea nearly five months ago.

Even if the appeals court grants the government's requests, the Miami relatives insist they will never hand over Elian voluntarily. But they say they will not resist if federal officers come for him.

That sets up the possibility of a confrontation with Cuban-American protesters who vow to form a human chain to protect Elian.

But as the wait continues for the court's decision, the mood among demonstrators outside the house has grown somber.

"It's almost like you would see at a funeral or at someone's hospital bed where you're just waiting and waiting for that doctor to come out with some news," said Angel Calzadilla, a Cuban-American police officer in Miami.

Elian's U.S. relatives have cared for him since late November, when he was found clinging to an inner tube off the Florida coast. His mother and 10 other people fleeing Cuba drowned when their boat sank.

Elian was one of three survivors.

State Department correspondent Andrea Koppel, Justice Correspondent Pierre Thomas, and Correspondents Mark Potter and Susan Candiotti contributed to this report.

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April 16, 2000
Weekend of waiting in Elian Gonzalez case
April 15, 2000
Temporary stay issued blocking Elian's removal from U.S.
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Elian, Miami kin seek calmer setting
April 12, 2000
Transfer of Elian tentatively set for Thursday, official says
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U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service
U.S. Department of Justice
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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