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Politics : About that Cuban boy, Elian -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: The Barracuda™ who wrote (2879)	4/26/2000 1:02:00 PM
From: gamesmistress	Respond to of 9127

Not to Elian. Do you really think that if only Elian is free everything will work out OK for him? That it doesn't matter who takes care of him, or what his daily life is like? Talk to any 6 year old - it matters. IMHO the environment in the Miami relatives' home was not healthy for that kid. Here is an excerpt from a Miami Herald article today which illustrates the lack of trust on both sides. ''The boy and the father are trying to be in the best possible environment, a calm one with no distractions so they can continue the reunification process of father and son,'' said Luis Fernandez, spokesman for the Cuban Interests Section in Washington. ''They're well. They feel happy.'' Fernandez said he did not visit the Gonzalez family at the base, but others from the Cuban Interests Section brought them food and clothing. The Miami side of the Gonzalez family has wielded sharp criticisms of the decision to keep Elian out of the public eye. They question his health and happiness and suggest the privacy is meant to shield the world from learning his true whereabouts and conditions. ''My house was always open to cameras,'' cousin Marisleysis Gonzalez said. NEED OF SOLITUDE The Rev. Joan Brown Campbell, a friend of Juan Miguel Gonzalez, said Elian and his father were simply in desperate need of solitude. ''Why is it so hard for people to grasp that they need time alone, to talk to each other?'' Campbell asked. ''He's a kid. He plays, reads books with his dad, and plays with toys,'' Campbell added. ''There has purposely not been a parade of visitors. They're keeping it private and are having a hard time doing that.'' One visitor who did talk to the first-grader Tuesday was a child psychologist sent by the INS to help determine how best to tackle a prospective meeting with the boy and warring sides of his family. Dr. Paulina Kernberg, a professor of psychiatry at Cornell University Medical College, interviewed the father and Elian for 2 1/2 hours Tuesday but apparently made no immediate recommendation about the reunion with other members of the family. ''It's going to be tough,'' INS Commissioner Doris Meissner said. ''A lot of things were said about the father that were offensive to the father. It's natural that he wants some solitude with his son for a few days.'' The psychologist's visit sparked reports on Miami's Spanish-language radio that the boy had been hospitalized for an emotional breakdown. Federal officials and others close to the case vehemently denied the rumor. CALLS FROM MIAMI U.S. marshals spokesman Bill Likotovich said he has spent much of Elian's three days in Maryland fielding telephone calls from people in Miami who believed the boy had been spirited out of the country and back to his communist island nation. ''I tell people that I had just seen the kid 10 minutes before,'' he said. ''They don't believe he's still here. I tell them, 'He's here. I've seen him.' And they ask me, 'Do you really believe that?' It's obvious this is a really intense and emotional issue.'' From: Psychiatrist finds Elian, dad functioning 'very well' Posted 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, April 26, 2000 herald.com