In Cuba, a Mix of Delight, Dismay Over Miami Seizure

The Cuban community across the Florida Straits may have been in turmoil Saturday after the U.S. government’s seizure of 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez. But here in the Cuban capital, the atmosphere was almost as if nothing had happened just before dawn in Miami. People went about their weekend routines as television returned to normal programming, and government leaders told the public to neither celebrate nor demonstrate.

At Havana’s Jose Marti anti-imperialist open stage in front of the U.S. Interests Section--the site of massive government “free Elian” demonstrations during the last month--only five police officers stood guard.

Cuban President Fidel Castro spoke at a previously scheduled rally in the province of Matanzas, where he thanked the American government and told more than 100,000 demonstrators it was neither a time nor an event to celebrate.

A communique written by Castro and issued earlier in the day told the Cuban people, “The fight for Elian is not over, yet the return of the child to his father is a step toward the right thing to do.”

On state television, images of Elian in the arms of an INS officer were replayed, but no pictures appeared of what had occurred inside his great-uncle’s house in Miami’s Little Havana. Cuban viewers were amazed to see Elian’s Florida relatives openly criticizing President Clinton and Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and calling them liars.

A 35-year-old cigar factory worker said: “That is true democracy. I can’t believe that people in your country can say things like that. Here you’re even afraid to think them.”

He refused to give his name, saying he feared retaliation from the government.

At a supermarket in the comparatively upscale Miramar district, shoppers standing in line and listening to state radio expressed relief that Elian was in the arms of his father.

A 53-year-old woman whose father was once a member of the Communist Party said that it was probably good that the reunion had taken place.

“They’ve been torturing us with images of the little boy. It’s been constant here. But you also have to think that the U.S. government has been very patient. I just think it’s a terrible thing for them to do to that little boy at this late date,” she said.

At a nearby oceanfront hotel, a busboy said he was very happy at the prospect of Elian’s return to Cuba.

“I’m dying for him to get here so that I can see something else on television,” the teenager said. “This thing has been draining for us.”

Since Elian was rescued in November, Cuba’s two television channels have broadcast a daily two-hour “round table” focused almost entirely on the boy. Children have complained that the show has preempted their cartoons.

In central Havana, a group of elderly men seated on a wall and enjoying the ocean breeze quickly got into a heated debate Saturday when asked about the fate of the boy.

“That was not handled properly,” said a 72-year-old man who grew up in Cardenas, Elian’s hometown. “They acted drastically. The father has a right to claim his son, but he should have gone to get him a long time ago. I believe Elian would be better off there. Here he would not even be allowed to drink milk after he turns 7. But I think it’s most important that he be with his father.”

A cigarette salesman and member of the Communist Party who was sitting nearby said he agreed with the action of the U.S. government. The man said that he lives in Cuba because he is free here and does not want to live anywhere else.

“It had to be that way because the family was talking a lot of nonsense, saying [U.S. authorities] would have to kill them to take the boy. You could tell from watching him on television that the boy was being coerced. Enough is enough.”

Another man turning a nearby corner became excited when he heard Elian’s name.

“That boy has been giving this country a headache for five months. This situation stinks already. I think you should talk about something else,” he said.

But an elderly man smoking cigarettes with his friends said he was in favor of Elian’s staying in Miami with his relatives.

“That boy will have no life here,” he said. “I hear people in America saying that Cuba is free. Believe me, if we were free, none of us would be here. When time passes, history will show what a failure this government has proved to be.”