Elian’s Father to Arrive in Washington Today

The father of Elian Gonzalez is to arrive in Washington early today, thus setting the stage for a dramatic father-son reunion and an eventual end to a bitter international custody fight that has riveted the world’s attention.

The announcement that Juan Miguel Gonzalez, accompanied by his wife, Nersy, and their 6-month-old son, Hianny, will travel to the nation’s capital to claim Elian was made late Wednesday by attorney Gregory B. Craig minutes after Craig’s return from Cuba.

Craig flew to Cuba late Tuesday on a one-day mission to persuade Gonzalez to come to the United States without the entourage of 28 people that Cuban President Fidel Castro had proposed.

“Juan Miguel has now been separated from his 6-year-old son for over four months,” Craig said at a news conference. “This separation has occurred through no fault of his and has continued against his wishes.

“It is time for this reunion to go forward and he [will] come here, and he is prepared to stay here until he has achieved that objective.”

Craig said that U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials have told him that custody of Elian would be transferred from his great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, to his father.

It was unclear, however, when the reunion will take place or where. But Juan Miguel Gonzalez is unlikely to travel to Miami, where many Cuban exiles have lent emotional support to Miami relatives’ efforts to keep Elian in the United States and have vowed to do what they can to prevent his repatriation.

Before a somber crowd of supporters outside the Little Havana home in Miami where Elian has been staying, family spokesman Armando Gutierrez said the family hopes Juan Miguel Gonzalez will come to Miami.

“The family has kept insisting that this is a family affair and should be worked out within the family,” Gutierrez said. “The family hopes that when Juan Miguel comes to the U.S., he understands that he is welcome in this house, and [the family] hopes that he finds time to come to the house of family members to work for the best for Elian Gonzalez.”

Reunited in a Matter of Days

In Havana, Castro declared on Wednesday night that it is just matter of days before Elian will be reunited with his father, Associated Press reported.

“I am talking about three days,” more or less, Castro told hundreds of university students from across Latin American and the Caribbean in the Cuban capital for a regional congress. “It is inevitable.”

How Miami’s exile community will react if Elian is taken from Miami to Washington also is unclear. But attorneys for the Miami relatives said that they would facilitate the reunion.

“I expect no resistance . . . , only tears,” said Spencer Eig, who represents Lazaro Gonzalez.

Attorneys for the family were to meet again today to continue working out details of the custody transfer.

Although several dozen supporters continued to stand vigil outside the house Wednesday evening, Elian was not home. He was driven to stay elsewhere with his second cousin and chief caretaker, Marisleysis Gonzalez, after her one-day hospital stay. She collapsed early Tuesday after a round of television interviews.

Three others who had been granted visas Tuesday are apparently not traveling with Juan Miguel Gonzalez and his immediate family. Those three are a young cousin of Elian’s, the boy’s kindergarten teacher and a pediatrician.

Craig did not comment on them, saying only that Juan Miguel Gonzalez likely would make a statement when he arrives at Dulles International Airport at 7 a.m. EDT.

Earlier, the Cuban government had set two conditions on the father’s visit that had stalemated efforts to end the international custody dispute, according to State Department spokesman James Rubin.

“Either he picks up his son and leaves immediately, or he comes to the United States for an extended visit with the 27 other individuals who have requested visas,” Rubin said, outlining the Cuban position. Among those 27 people are 12 of Elian’s classmates from his hometown of Cardenas, as well as Ricardo Alarcon, president of Cuba’s National Assembly.

He said the family’s visas did not limit their travel in the United States and that their approved length of stay would be determined when they arrive at a U.S. immigration post.

The Cuban family is expected to stay at the home of Cuba’s chief diplomat in Washington, Fernando Remirez, in Bethesda, Md.

The 31-year-old father has not seen his son since late November, when the boy, his mother and 12 others left Cuba in a small boat for the U.S. The boat overturned, and only Elian and two others survived. His mother did not.

Little Havana Home Has Been in Spotlight

The Miami relatives who have had temporary custody of Elian have insisted that the child be evaluated by a panel of three psychologists. They also want Juan Miguel Gonzalez to come to their home to see how the child has been living and discuss his future before they hand him over.

That Little Havana home has been the prime focus of attention from a horde of news media and several dozen anti-Castro exiles who have vowed to block any attempt to remove the child from Miami.

But protests also spread Wednesday to the suburban home of Miami native Janet Reno, the U.S. attorney general. She has backed the INS decision to return Elian to his father, as has a U.S. federal judge.

About 100 exiles, some waving large Cuban flags, voiced their support for the Miami relatives outside the Reno family home, where Reno’s brother now lives. One poster depicted Reno as the devil, with horns. The attorney general remained in Washington on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma claimed that the custody battle seemed to be going Cuba’s way. “If there is one thing that is clear, it is that the kidnappers are facing a ‘knockout,’ the Mafia is cornered,” read an editorial. The Mafia is a term Castro uses for anti-communist exiles in Miami.

Back at the home of Lazaro Gonzalez, the boy was seen briefly Wednesday afternoon playing in the yard. He is no longer attending a private school, out of concern for his safety, according to a family spokesman.

Supporters camped outside the house remained calm Wednesday, a day after rumors about the arrival of INS agents sparked an incident in which several people broke through police lines to form a human wall in front of the house. But police presence was stepped up.

“I don’t think any law enforcement agency wants to go knock down little old ladies to drag a 6-year-old from the house,” said Miami Police Chief William O’Brien. “Hopefully, some ground is going to be reached so we have a peaceful ending to this situation.”

*

Times staff writer Bob Drogin in Washington contributed to this story.