Protesters overrun barriers, vow to keep boy in U.S.

Wednesday, April 5th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

MIAMI - Tension escalated in Little Havana on Tuesday with new rumors about the fate of Elian Gonzalez, whose Cuban father remained poised to travel for a reunion with his 6-year-old son.

Protesters broke through police barricades at the home of Elian's great-uncle and formed a human chain to block immigration officials who were rumored to be approaching.

The demonstrators intend only civil disobedience and will avoid violence, said Janelis Miranda, 21, a Cuban refugee.
"We're defending one of our own," she said. "This is a matter of saving a life twice - of saving a little boy again."

Many Cuban exiles view Elian's survival as a miracle and a symbol of their own escape from the government of Cuban President Fidel Castro. They have vowed to block any move to seize Elian by the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which a federal court has said legally controls Elian's fate.

The demonstrators dispersed as on-again, off-again talks between the attorneys for the Miami relatives and the federal government continued through a fifth day.

Negotiators emerged to say they would take a day off and resume talks Thursday - "as much as we're enjoying our endless marathon negotiations with U.S. officials," said Miami lawyer Spencer Eig.

Another attorney for Elian's Miami relatives said they had asked for a day's break because the boy's cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez was hospitalized. She became ill during a round of morning TV interviews about Elian, whom she has cared for at the home of her father, Elian's great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez.

The family has cared for Elian since late November, when he was found floating in an inner tube off the coast of Florida. The child survived a boat accident that killed his mother and other Cubans who were trying to immigrate to the United States.

Family members continued to push for a court hearing on Elian's fate. But Justice Department authorities said again Tuesday that they've already decided the child will be reunited with his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez of Cuba.

"The focus of the government continues to be on how to best accomplish the reunification of Elian with his father," said Robert A. Wallis, Miami director for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Mr. Gonzalez's travel plans were unclear and under the control of Cuban authorities. U.S. authorities in Havana have issued six visas to him, his wife and child, a friend of Elian, a teacher and a Cuban pediatrician.

The Washington attorney for the boy's father was expected to travel Tuesday evening to Havana, where he'll consult with Juan Gonzalez and Cuban officials, a U.S. government official said.

Sticking point

In the Miami talks, a key sticking point remained the role of professional counselors in Elian's transfer. The boy's Miami relatives insist that psychologists decide whether a custody change would damage the child.

Federal negotiators say they only want advice on how best to accomplish the transfer.
Also at issue is whether the government can prevent the father from leaving the United States after he retrieves his son. The Miami relatives want assurance that Mr. Gonzalez won't leave while they continue a legal challenge.

The Cuban government has said the father will come to the United States when he has a guarantee that he can be reunited with his son.
That the father wants to come makes it a good time to hold a hearing on Elian's welfare, said Mr. Eig, one of a team of attorneys representing the Miami relatives.

"Elian deserves his day in court," he said.
The issue bubbled again in the upcoming presidential election, in which Cuban-Americans could swing the pivotal state of Florida.

Vice President Al Gore, the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, said Tuesday that Elian's father should be allowed to take his son home "if the father says on free soil that he believes the son should go back to Cuba with him."

Boy's welfare

But Mr. Gore also has said a family court should decide what's in Elian's best interests. He has endorsed legislation that might make that possible.

The expected GOP nominee, Gov. George W. Bush, has said Elian should be allowed to stay in the United States and says the vice president should be clearer on his stand.

On Tuesday, Mr. Bush said it was hard to trust the word of Juan Gonzalez because of the influence of Cuba's Communist government.
"My own personal judgment is I don't trust the Cubans to let this man make an informed decision," the governor told reporters.

Staff writer David LaGesse in Washington and The Associated Press contributed to this report