By Karen DeYoung
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday , April 18, 2000

The two sides in the Elian Gonzalez controversy remained in an anxious holding pattern this morning, filling the silence from a
federal court with renewed criticism of each other.

Miami relatives who have defied a government order to relinquish the 6-year-old this morning rejected a letter from an eminent
pediatrician who said that the boy was in "a state of imminent danger to his physical and emotional well-being in a home that I
consider to be psychologically abusive."

The letter was written to Attorney General Janet Reno by Irwin Redlener, the president of The Children's Health Fund and
professor of pediatrics at The Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Redlener, who has been advising the government on the
case, said this morning on CNN that Elian was being "explicitly and deliberately alienated from his father."

In yesterday's letter to Attorney General Janet Reno, Redlener referred to "frantic legal maneuverings of the Miami family . . .
unfounded allegations of paternal abuse" and a home video released last week showing Elian "expressing anger and other most
unusual behaviors."

"I believe there is no justification whatsoever to wait any longer" to enforce the government's custody order transferring Elian to
his father, Redlener said, and called for his immediate removal from "a profoundly disturbing and dangerous environment for this
child."

The relatives responded today with statements saying Elian is happy and at ease. At midmorning he was sent out into the yard
of his great-uncle Lazaro Gonzalez's home to play before the crowds of Cuban American supporters and television cameras
that surround the house.

The decision before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta since Friday does not directly address the question of who
should have custody of the 6-year-old – his Cuban father or Lazaro Gonzalez. That issue was decided in the father's
favor by the Immigration and Naturalization Service in January and upheld in federal court last month.

The Miami relatives' appeal of that court decision is not due to be heard until May 11. The relatives last week asked the
appeals court to prevent Elian's returning to Cuba in the meantime. The Justice Department objected, saying the relatives
already had violated the INS order to relinquish the boy last Thursday and deserved no consideration from the court. But the
government said it would delay enforcing its custody transfer order until the departure ruling was made.

Government officials, who said they are confident of prevailing, had expected a ruling as early as Saturday, and certainly no
later than yesterday.

Meanwhile, Cuban state television last night broadcast pictures of an opulent seaside house in Havana where it said Elian and
his family there would live during a three-month "readaptation" period before returning to their home in Cardenas, about two
hours east of the capital.

The pictures shown included a swimming pool, well-appointed bedrooms, a play room, and a classroom set up for Elian and
12 of his first-grade classmates the Cuban government expects to join him there.

"This will be the place where little Elian Gonzalez adapts to his new conditions of life after his return to the fatherland," a
commentary with the pictures said.

Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, arrived in this country 12 days ago with his second wife and infant son to be reunited with
his son. He has said he wants to return with Elian to Cardenas, where the boy's four grandparents and great-grandmother live.

Although the Cuban government previously had referred to an unspecified period of "transition" for the boy, it has said
repeatedly that it does not plan to turn Elian into a political "trophy" but that it will send him back to his hometown to live a
normal life.

                                 © 2000 The Washington Post Company