HAVANA (AP) -- Cuban officials say they have prepared a boarding school
in
Havana to help 6-year-old Elian Gonzalez readapt to the island once he
is returned
from the United States.
Saying the boy has been psychologically damaged during his stay in Miami,
psychologist Patricia Ares told Cuban state television late Monday that
a team of
teachers and psychologists would help him recover.
That work would be done by psychologists at a special boarding school in
the
Miramar district of Havana, which would include stays by his teachers and
fellow students from Cardenas, 60 miles east of Havana.
The new school bears the same name as Elian's school in Cardenas and is
equipped with "all the conditions so that the relatives of the little one,
a
specialized medical team and 12 fellow students can stay there for the
necessary
time," the government's Prensa Latina news agency reported.
It quoted teachers as saying the boy would probably be there for at least
three
months.
Cuban officials say Elian has been psychologically abused by his great-uncle's
family in Miami, which has had custody of the boy since he was rescued
after a
shipwreck in late November. Elian's mother died in the shipwreck, and his
father
has gone to the United States to try and reclaim his son.
They have been especially critical of heavy media attention on the child
and the
family's release of a videotape showing Elian saying he does not want to
return
to Cuba.
"The more time that passes, the more dangerous it is," said Aurora Garcia,
a
psychology professor from the University of Havana.
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.