Partial Victories for Cuba in Custody, Hijacking Cases

The Cuban government enjoyed two partial victories over the U.S. on Wednesday, with American officials recognizing that a father can assert his claim to take his son back to Cuba and agreeing to return a group of suspected boat hijackers to the island.

Yet with 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez still in the U.S. and the possibility that Florida courts would delay the suspected hijackers’ return, the victories remained incomplete.

The boy was rescued off the Florida coast Nov. 25 and turned over to relatives in Miami. Elian’s mother and stepfather died in the illegal attempt to flee to the U.S.

President Clinton said Wednesday that he hopes U.S. and Cuban officials will not allow “politics or threats” to decide Elian’s fate.

“I think all fathers would be sympathetic” to Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, Clinton said, but “what is best for the child” is the highest concern.

On Tuesday, the Clinton administration said it recognizes the father’s right to assert his claim to take his son home even though the boy says he wants to stay in Miami.

Elian’s paternal great-aunt and great-uncle have said that they could provide him a better life than he could have in Cuba.

The custody dispute and boat hijacking have cast a shadow over U.S.-Cuban migration talks scheduled for Monday in Havana.

In the hijacking case, five men and a woman are said to have boarded the boat north of Havana early Monday. The Coast Guard seized the vessel off the Florida coast Monday night.

U.S. officials said Florida state prosecutors could halt the suspected hijackers’ return if they decide to try the Cubans there.