The Elian Case: Where to Now?

The Elian Gonzalez saga is all over but the shouting, and while there'll be plenty of that, it's unlikely to materially affect the outcome. Cuban-Americans vented their anger in Miami Tuesday by closing down Little Havana in a "general strike," while Attorney General Janet Reno was called to a meeting with U.S. senators to account for the tactics used in reuniting the boy with his father. And as the Miami relatives were turned away from Andrews Air Force Base for a fourth successive day because Juan Miguel Gonzalez wants more time alone with his son before he is prepared to consider a meeting with his uncle Lazaro and cousin Marisleysis, Elian moved with his father to a private residence near the Wye River Plantation in Maryland. There they'll be joined shortly by four of Elian's playmates (and one parent for each), to whom the State Department will issue visas allowing them to visit the U.S. for two weeks to keep the boy company. While the Miami relatives are certain to pursue their efforts to keep Elian on these shores, for the GOP leadership and the Cuban-American activist community the emphasis may shift to a more generic campaign against both Fidel Castro and the Clinton administration.
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