Cousins split after meeting Elian's father

BY FRANCES ROBLES

 WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Elian Gonzalez custody case split another family Sunday.

 The 6-year-old's own relatives have battled each other over his future for months. Now the two cousins who rescued him -- one a roofer who stayed out of the limelight, the other a camera-friendly Pentecostal evangelist -- have seemed to part ways, too. They showed up for a morning appointment with Elian's father together. They left apart.

 ''Me and my cousin have different opinions,'' Sam Ciancio said moments after walking out of the meeting alone. ''Donato Dalrymple does not speak for me.''

 Ciancio and Dalrymple arrived in Washington, D.C., on Saturday eager to meet the father of the little boy they saved. They came with curiosity, high hopes and a bit of an agenda. Ciancio, 41, left the session satisfied, his mind at peace and heart touched. Uttering ''I'm outta here,'' he stormed out with his cousin still inside, the rift between them transparent and growing.

 AN UNDERSTANDING

 ''He is a loving father,'' Ciancio, of Pompano Beach, said of Gonzalez. ''Things were said yesterday about Juan Miguel owing me something. Juan Miguel owes me not one thing. He gave me everything he ever owed me. I understand him now. I understand him more than I ever did.''

 Dalrymple, 40, came down later, shrugging off Ciancio's departure and determined more than ever to serve as mediator, even if nobody asked him to or wants him to. His voice loud and words biting, it was as if these two rescuers attended separate meetings with different men.

 ''From the beginning, we didn't share the same sentiments,'' Dalrymple explained, saying his cousin disagreed with his frequent visits with Elian and disliked his constant television appearances.

 Dalrymple and Ciancio showed up uninvited Saturday at the Bethesda, Md., home of Fernando Remirez, the Cuban diplomat serving as Gonzalez's host. It was a trip they said they paid at least $800 for from their own pockets.

 At first, they were turned away because Gonzalez wasn't even there. That night, Gonzalez's attorney, Greg Craig, reached out to the men who plucked Elian from the sea on Thanksgiving Day. They quibbled over where to meet and who would serve as interpreter. The rescuers wanted Cuban American National Foundation deputy director Emilio Vazquez to translate.
 TERMS ARE SET

 By 10:30 a.m. Sunday, the terms were set and the meeting was on.

 The differences between the cousins were obvious from the start. As they walked up to Craig's Washington office, Dalrymple stopped to grumble to the press about the designated translator. Ciancio walked past the cameras, urging Dalrymple to stop talking and start walking. They were running late.

 A short time later, Ciancio came down by himself. Saturday's bravado was gone, replaced by warm words and loving compliments.

 ''He looked me in the eye and thanked me,'' Ciancio told reporters. ''We laughed about some things and cried about some things. . . . It's a father thing.''

The differences between the cousins were obvious.  Ciancio, himself a father, said it was he who jumped into the waters to save Elian -- his cousin simply pulled the boy onto their boat. He urged Juan Miguel Gonzalez to speak to the American public so they can get to know him, too. He urged the American public to accept whatever comes of the custody dispute.

 ''It's time for me to go home and hug my babies,'' Ciancio said before hopping on an airport shuttle. ''I came here to satisfy my own heart. I leave very satisfied.''

DISGRUNTLED

 Dalrymple left disgruntled.

 ''Seven times the lawyer said to me, 'This conversation is over. You're out of here,' '' Dalrymple said, complaining that Gonzalez is being manipulated by his ''celebrity'' attorney. ''He wanted it to be, 'Hi. How are you doing? Thank you,' and walk out the door. I wasn't going to let that happen. I was asking questions the attorney didn't like.''

 While Dalrymple also had kind things to say about Gonzalez, he was less thrilled with their encounter, which included a rebuke by Gonzalez for wrapping an American flag around the boy on TV.

 Dalrymple, who owns a housecleaning business, urged Gonzalez to meet with his relatives on neutral territory. He insisted on being the mediator that helps heal the rift in the Gonzalez family even as the one in his own family deepens.

 Ciancio, he said, only wanted to make sure Gonzalez will not bar visits to Elian in Cuba. Dalrymple says he has a bigger job.

 ''Sam rolled his eyes a little bit. But I have a mission here,'' Dalrymple said. ''We will continue to be cousins. We will continue to be friends. We've been through thick and thin. Believe me, this is mild.''