Protesters yell in anguish as court rules against Elian's Miami relatives
By Mildrade Cherfils, Associated Press, 06/01/00
MIAMI -- Protesters outside Elian Gonzalez's former home yelled and cried today but remained peaceful after a court issued a ruling that could lead to the boy's return to Cuba.
Some in the crowd of about 100 fell to the ground sobbing after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision was announced in Atlanta. One woman vomited. Another fainted and had to be treated by paramedics.
"The constitution is dead," said Roxana Rodriguez, a secretary. "There is no justice. Democracy and freedom have been thrown to the trash."
But many in the Little Havana crowd called for calm, noting that the decision could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
"It is not over yet -- God is with us," said Sandra Linar, a 40-year-old homemaker. She held a sign adorned with a photo of Elian and his mother, who died while trying to bring him to the United States, as she consoled other demonstrators.
A small number promised violence if the 6-year-old boy is sent back to the communist nation.
"To hell with being peaceful -- we have been peaceful long enough," said Daniel Jimenez, a 23-year-old unemployed dishwasher. But by early afternoon, the crowd had dwindled to only about half what it was at the time of the ruling.
That was in contrast to April 22, then thousands in Miami's large Cuban-American community took to the streets, some of them burning debris, in the hours after the raid that took the boy away from his Miami relatives. More than 350 people were arrested.
The family moved to another home after the raid.
Attorneys for the relatives said today that they have not decided whether they will request a rehearing. Attorney Kendall Coffey called the decision "very painful," but he said the 11th Circuit judges "have been very fair."
Marisleysis Gonzalez, Elian's cousin who acted as his mother during his Miami stay, said that she still has hope that he won't be returned to Cuba, and also hopes to be able to see him.
"I hope the laws of this country favor him and give him the opportunity to seek asylum," she said.
Elian was rescued by two fishermen off the Florida coast in November. He was found clinging to an inner tube after his mother and 10 others drowned when their boat sank on the way to the United States from Cuba.
Donato Dalrymple, one of the fishermen who found Elian and who was photographed holding Elian as he was seized by an armed federal agent in April, said today that he was not surprised by the ruling.
"I knew there was no turning back after that raid," Dalrymple said. "I'm sorry he didn't get a true day in court. I'm heartbroken. There was no due process."
Dalrymple is suing federal authorities over the raid, and his attorneys filed a motion today seeking to keep the boy and his father in the United States until they gave depositions in that suit.
"It's so due process can be taken care of," Dalrymple said. "They're supposed to stay here until the process is over with."
The issue of the boy's fate has sparked dozens of rallies in Cuba, many of them led by Castro.
The aftermath also included a City Hall shake-up in which the police chief resigned and Mayor Joe Carollo fired the city manager.
Sister Jeanne O'Laughlin, a nun who was host of a meeting between Elian and his Cuban grandmothers in January and then said she thought he should stay in the United States, said that she feels sad for the boy's family.
"It is my sincere hope that this child will continue to experience love from all sides of the family, and that, in time, relationships will be healed," she said in a statement.
Estrella Martinez reacts today as a federal court decision denying Elian Gonzalez an INS hearing is announced to a crowd gathered outside the home of the boy's Miami relatives. (AP photo)
Elian Gonzalez, held by Donato Dalrymple, is taken by U.S. federal agents from his Miami relatives in a pre-dawn raid. (AP Photo / Alan Diaz)