Published April 18, 2000

Cuban Mission Attack Probed

By GEORGE GEDDA

Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- District police said Tuesday they have launched a criminal investigation into allegations that some 15 people from the Cuban diplomatic mission here assaulted Cuban-American protesters who were demanding that 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez remain in the United States.

Some of the protesters suffered minor injuries in the fracas just before nightfall last Friday and were treated at local hospitals.

The disclosure came as the State Department summoned a top Cuban diplomat here to express "extreme concern" over the beatings. The diplomat, asked for an explanation, did not comment on the allegations but said he hoped to obtain an explanation later, said a department official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Sgt. Joe Gentile, a Metropolitan Police Department spokesman, said the incident is being investigated as a simple assault. He would not comment further.

If Cuban diplomats were involved, they would not be subject to prosecution because of diplomatic immunity. But officials said that would not prevent an investigation from being carried out.

Several protesters, speaking at a midday news conference Tuesday in front of the Cuban mission, said an all-male group emerged from the Cuban mission building and started pummeling the demonstrators, believed to number about 14.

"I was punched twice in the face," said Mauricio Claver Carone, a college student. "I have bruises on my chest."

Estrella Carie Noda, a U.S. government employee, said she suffered black and blue marks on her arms and legs.

Brigida Benitez, a lawyer who was not at the news conference, said in a telephone interview that she was grabbed by the arms and thrown into the street. Her husband, Jorge, said that after suffering a blow to the head, he experienced fogginess and was diagnosed at a hospital as having a minor head trauma. He also suffered a contusion on his head.

Others required hospitalization but it was not clear how many.

Luis Fernandez, a spokesman for the Cuban mission, would not comment on the allegations. However, he said people hostile to Cuba and to Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, "have been performing provocative actions against the integrity and dignity of our diplomatic mission, disrupting its normal functions."

The protesters insulted women and children at the mission and also passed objects through the fence, Fernandez said.

Miami Mayor Joe Carollo, who was among those who spoke to reporters, said Attorney General Janet Reno told him Monday she planned to investigate the incident. Later, Reno said she had asked Carollo to make sure he reported the occurrence to the local police and said she would follow if the complainants had trouble in getting the assistance they needed.

News media camera crews had been deployed at the interest section most of the day Friday but left before the incident took place.

Witnesses said two agents from the Secret Service, which has responsibility for protecting diplomatic missions, struck the assailants with batons to induce them to stop. When reinforcements were summoned, the assailants retreated back onto the mission grounds, the witnesses said.

The episode added yet another bizarre twist to the saga of Elian Gonzalez, who has been at the center of a custody fight between his Cuban father and Cuban-American relatives since he was rescued from the ocean south of Florida last November. His father has been here since April 6, trying to recover custody of his son.

The news conference took place under a steady rain across the street from the three-story sand-colored structure that houses the Cuban mission. An official with a videocamera could be seen taping the proceedings from a second story window.

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