CNN
April 19, 2000
 
 
Cuba sets up boarding school for Elian, classmates

                   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.