Published Tuesday, March 28, 2000, in the Miami Herald

Elian will speak for himself

BY ANA ACLE AND MARIKA LYNCH

Frustrated with the court of law, Elian Gonzalez's Miami family turns to the court of public opinion today with the first part of a one-on-one interview with the 6-year-old boy by Diane Sawyer of ABC News.

The initial short clips airing today on Good Morning America recall the boy's harrowing journey from Cuba in which his mother and 10 other Cubans died. The interview continues on the same program Tuesday and wraps up with an extensive segment at 10 p.m. Wednesday on 20/20, said Sandra Lugo, an ABC News spokeswoman.

Neither Lugo nor Elian's Miami family spokesman, Armando Gutierrez, would discuss the substance of the interview, videotaped Thursday and Friday somewhere in Miami.

But news of the interview drew a sharp reaction from Cuban President Fidel Castro, who in a Sunday speech to student leaders called the event ''monstruous'' and ''sickening.''

''You cannot do this without the authorization of the father,'' Castro said.

Castro also said that many people in Cuba had written to him to suggest that he authorize the dispatch of a commando team to stage an armed assault and ''rescue'' Elian from his Miami relatives.

News accounts from Havana did not say whether Castro discarded or is still considering the idea.

But Castro did say that a permanent rally to demand Elian's return will be organized in front of the U.S. Interests Section in Havana beginning April 3.

Capping the 1 1/2-hour speech, Castro also alleged that the boy's Miami relatives might spirit him out of the United States or even kill him by deliberately infecting him with an unspecified illness rather than return him to Cuba -- assertions the Miami family vehemently denied.

Arriving home Sunday afternoon, Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez briefly told reporters that the Sawyer interview went ''the best it possibly could go.

The first clip will air just hours before a critical U.S. government deadline. Federal officials have threatened to revoke Elian's temporary parole this week -- which would hasten his return to Cuba -- if relatives don't agree by noon today to a fast-track appeal on his custody.

Late Sunday, attorneys for Elian's Miami family discussed their response to the government ultimatum.

Family attorneys have filed notice that they intend to appeal a federal judge's ruling that upheld a decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to return the boy to Cuba. But the attorneys have not moved to file the appeal itself.

''Elian's voice needs to be heard because the U.S. government has never interviewed him,'' said Linda Osberg-Braun, an attorney with the Miami family's legal team. ''The government has refused to talk with him and hear his evidence. Elian is going to suffer detrimentally if he is sent back to Cuba. His voice needs to be heard.

A psychologist reviewed the boy's mental health before the interview, easing concerns, the family's legal team said.

Asked if she thought the interview was exploitation of the boy, Osberg-Braun said that ''harm can come in all different forms.

''Whatever he does on the air,'' she added, ''the public will be able to see whether he is sincere or not. All we are looking for is that the truth be known.

Bernard Perlmutter, a University of Miami family-law professor, said he believes the ABC interview reflects poor judgment.

''I wouldn't do it with my 6-year-old son,'' Perlmutter said. ''If I were his father, I would not allow this to go forward, and I don't think the father would permit this. He is still a father and has parental rights.

Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, lives in Cuba and says he wants his son returned to him.

Throughout the day, a crowd swelled on the street in front of a Little Havana branch of Totalbank -- where some say an apparition of the Virgin Mary has appeared to foreshadow a miracle.

Elian, for his part, helped cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez set up an inflatable swimming pool in the yard of the family's home, then donned fluorescent green goggles and splashed in the water.

Herald staff writer Jay Weaver and Herald wire services contributed to this report.

Copyright 2000 the Miami Herald.
Republished here with the permission of the Miami Herald. No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written approval of The Miami Herald.