(12 Jan 2000) Voice and effects
Voiced by: Louise Bates
Attorney General Janet Reno has upheld an I-N-S decision giving custody of Elian Gonzalez to his Cuban father - defying a state court ruling which tried to overturn the decision.
Reno said that any challenge to the edict must be made in the federal court.
The news is still little comfort for Cubans, or the boy's father.
Elian was supposed to be returned by this Friday, but now the deadline has been extended to accommodate further court proceedings.
VOICE-OVER:
0.00
The banner says: "The people of Havana will defend Elian."
Elsewhere, this sign: "Come back to the heart of your family, to your people and country, symbolic child."
0.11
Elian Gonzalez - his image now appearing on tee-shirts in Cuba - has transcended his own tragic story - now fodder for political and social forces on both sides of the Florida Straits which are desperately seeking to keep him.
0.24
In Cardenas, the boy's home town, locals have dedicated themselves to his cause.
Workmen have even volunteered to paint the family home, ready for his return.
0.34
But as the people of Havana prepared for another mass protest, that wasn't forthcoming.
Although U-S Attorney General Janet Reno has overturned a Florida state court ruling that Elian remain in the States for evaluation, he will stay in the U-S beyond Friday's deadline, originally set by America's Immigration Service.
This is to allow the boy's Florida relatives time to challenge that decision in the Federal Court.
0.59
SOUNDBITE: (Spanish)
"For us the Cuban people this tribunal has no meaning. The people are the judges - you can see all those people sitting behind me, the people that have been meeting every day to reclaim their rights, this boy has to be returned."
SUPER CAPTION: Lauzara Robina Cabrera, Ministry of Education
1.02
For Cubans, these tribunals have no meaning, says the Ministry of Education. The people are the judges...the people who have been meeting every day to reclaim their rights - this boy has to be returned.
1.17
Elian was found on Thanksgiving Day off Fort Lauderdale, clinging to wreckage from the boat which was to take him to a new life in the States - his mother, stepfather and nine others drowned.
1.30
In the Cuban capital, President Fidel Castro was among hundreds who attended the latest demonstration - a performance by the children of Havana.
1.38
But in an American election year, there's every chance Elian will not be coming back to his father for quite a while, if at all.
Florida's politicians wouldn't be doing themselves any favours siding with Cuba's communist president.
OUT: 1:53
Find out more about AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Instagram: [ Ссылка ]
You can license this story through AP Archive: [ Ссылка ]
