Cuba Says It Won’t Exploit Elian

A senior Cuban official promised Sunday that if 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez returns to Cuba with his father, the Cuban government will not exploit the boy for propaganda purposes.

“We are not going to parade him,” said Ricardo Alarcon, president of the Cuban National Assembly and a top aide to Cuban leader Fidel Castro, on NBC-TV’s “Meet the Press.”

“We are not going to use him as those people in Miami have been doing for more than four months,” Alarcon said. “He will return to his home with his father and his family. It’s as simple as that.”

Alarcon’s remarks represent the most authoritative statement yet by the Cuban government on what Elian Gonzalez’s future will be like if he goes back to the island. Alarcon appeared to be trying to dispel speculation that Castro, who has taken a personal interest in the drama over the boy’s future, might stage some showy political displays alongside Elian after his return.

Elian left Cuba with his mother in November when she tried to flee by boat to the United States. She died in a shipwreck along with 10 others, and the boy was rescued by two fishermen. He has been living with Cuban American relatives in Miami ever since, while his father, who lives in Cuba, has been seeking to regain custody of him.

On Sunday, the two fishermen met with Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, a 31-year-old hotel doorman who flew to Washington last week. Afterward, both men said they were convinced that the father has an emotional bond with his son.

“I came here to satisfy my own heart,” said one of the fishermen, Sam Ciancio. “I am leaving here satisfied.”

Justice Department officials have said that Juan Miguel Gonzalez should be able to regain custody of his son this week.

On the NBC show, Gregory B. Craig, the lawyer representing Elian’s father, made it plain that he does not want his client to have to go into Miami and its anti-Castro Cuban community in order to take custody of his child.

“The circumstances in Miami are so fragile, so passionate, so emotional that it would be bad for Elian, and we have ruled that out,” Craig asserted. “There’s a variety of alternative places that we’d be willing to consider. Miami is not one of them.”

Last week, Atty. Gen. Janet Reno announced that psychologists would meet with the Miami relatives today as one of the last steps before Elian is turned over to his father.

On Sunday, however, Elian’s Miami relatives said that Marisleysis Gonzalez, the 21-year-old cousin who has been caring for the boy, is in a hospital with stomach ailments and might not be able to keep the meeting with the psychologists.

Because of her illness, Elian’s great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, asked in a letter to Reno that the meeting “be scheduled on a tentative basis.” Marisleysis Gonzalez has been hospitalized several times in recent months.

Deputy Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. suggested that even if today’s meeting does not take place, U.S. officials might move ahead anyway to return the boy to his father.

“We think that if they meet with the psychologists, that will ease the transition,” Holder said.

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Times reporter Mike Clary in Miami contributed to this story.