7 Months Later, Elian Goes Home To Cuba

Cuban state television interrupted its regular programming within minutes of the court's announcement in Washington. Calling on Cubans to remain "dignified, serene and disciplined," the government said there would be no public reception for the child whose "kidnapping" has dominated life here since November.

Instead, the government said in a statement broadcast throughout the day, Cuba would keep its word and make Elian's reception here a private, family affair. His grandparents were brought to Havana several days ago to await his arrival, and reporters were told the boy would make no public appearance. In his home town, Cardenas, dozens of buses appeared at his elementary school, loaded up and headed for Havana.

The government statement complimented Clinton for realizing "the kidnapping of the child was absolutely illegal and damaging to his country's interests." But it warned that the "struggle is far from over, and the fight for Elian is but the first step" in Cuba's battle against U.S. policies--particularly the economic embargo--that it charges encourage illegal immigration of the kind that led to the death of Elian's mother and his arrival in the United States.

It told Cubans to respond with "a calm attitude in these emotional moments" and to avoid any action that "those filled with hatred" could use against Cuba in the U.S. electoral campaign. After Elian's arrival, the government advised citizens to "celebrate in their homes and neighborhoods."

As Castro has repeatedly reminded Cubans in recent weeks, U.S. public opinion polls indicated that as many as 70 percent of Americans agreed that Elian should be returned to his father. Increasing numbers, now a majority in most polls, also question the usefulness of the 41-year-old U.S. embargo of Cuba.

Over the past several months, members of Congress, backed by the powerful farm lobby and U.S. businesses, have gained increasing strength in their efforts to loosen the embargo. This week, the Republican leadership was pushed, largely by GOP members, to a compromise in which food and medical goods can be sold to Cuba.

Clinton, at his news conference, said he will sign the compromise into law if it reaches his desk in the form of legislation, but he emphasized that he is not ready to make any broader changes in the embargo.

Although Cuban American members of Congress and their supporters claimed victory in the narrow scope of the agreement, which prevents the use of U.S. government or commercial credits to finance trade and strengthens restrictions on travel by Americans to the island, anti-sanctions activists said they consider it the first step toward ultimate normalization of relations.

For its part, the Cuban government has denounced the agreement, noting that it actually fortifies the embargo in many ways. "There will be no truce in the struggle against the Helms-Burton and Torricelli laws [U.S. legislation that strengthened the embargo in 1992 and 1996], the dozens of [congressional] amendments to strangle our country, the criminal blockade, the economic war, the incessant policy of subversion and destabilization against the revolution," Castro said at a rally Saturday. "We have pledged ourselves, and we will succeed."

For the Gonzalezes, a once close family divided only by the 90 miles between Florida and Havana, there may be no way to mend the breach. For the Cuban American community, which backed Elian's Miami relatives with emotional, political and financial support through their long and ultimately unsuccessful legal struggle, the future is uncertain.

Cuban American leaders said they had expected the Supreme Court rejection but hope to use the struggle over Elian to renew their focus on the larger question of U.S. relations with Cuba.

"There is a lot of frustration and a lot of sadness," said Ramon Saul Sanchez, who led many of the massive street demonstrations in Miami last winter and spring. "But the fight for Elian continues. We must fight for the rest of the children in Cuba . . . [and] give people a sense of objective, give them something to refocus on . . . to put aside this battle and continue the war."

American politicians opposed to Elian's return were bitter. "What Clinton has done, in effect, is to throw a 6-year-old boy over the Berlin Wall," said Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, a Florida Republican who represents Miami.

Vice President Gore, who broke with the administration and earned widespread criticism within his own party for calling for the case to be decided in a Florida state court, said yesterday that that still would have been his preference. But, he said, "I think this decision is entitled to respect and the law should be followed."

Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (R) acknowledged that the case had "damaged--incorrectly so--the nature of Cuban Americans in Miami. It breaks my heart to see the national press depict people who have been lovers of freedom the way that this has all played out."

Staff writers Sylvia Moreno and Jennifer Lenhart in Washington contributed to this report.