Cuban officials visited boy on first day at Wye
Tom Carter and Jerry Seper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
The State Department allowed 10 Cuban government
officials to visit Elian Gonzalez the day he was moved to a Maryland
estate in what government critics say is an attempt to turn the compound
into a "Cuban re-education camp."
The names of the Cubans who visited Wye Plantation
on Tuesday were not released, although a State Department list said
the group —remarkable for the care of a small group of children — included
two first secretaries, one second secretary, two
counselors, four support officers and the "spouse of second secretary."
The reason for the visits was described as delivering
supplies.
One of the first secretaries is believed to
be Armando Collazo, who is suspected in an attack earlier this month on
anti-Castro demonstrators outside the Cuban Interests Section.
Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Florida Republican,
Thursday charged that the boy was "being placed under a systematic
program of brainwashing and it is being done on U.S. soil, under the
protection of U.S. officials. What do a dozen Cuban state
security agents have to do with the bonding process between a father
and a son. It is monstrous and Orwellian."
Cuban President Fidel Castro, in a speech
in Havana this week, insisted it was essential to immediately begin Elian's
"rehabilitation" process to recover from the trauma of his "kidnap"
by the Miami relatives and his dramatic "rescue" by armed
U.S. agents last weekend.
Mr. Castro proposed sending more doctors and
friends to join Elian.
"The essential thing is to save the boy, both
mentally and physically," he told reporters.
A federal appeals court has forbidden Elian
from being taken to any Cuban property outside U.S. jurisdiction. The Cuban
diplomats obtained permission to immediately travel to Wye Plantation
on Maryland's Eastern Shore — which is outside a
25-mile travel limit for Cuban diplomats — to meet with the Gonzalez
family on the day he was moved to the facility.
The Cubans told the State Department they
were bringing supplies to the family, although department officials would
not or
could not say what they were.
"That is correct. We provided authorization
for [the 10 Cuban officials] to go out there the day the boy was moved,"
said a
senior State Department official. "They did not have permission to
stay the night."
The official said it was not an "open-ended
permission," but noted that under existing State Department policy, Cuban
diplomats need only file a five-day notice that they intend to travel
beyond the 25-mile limit and they can do so without
question. He said a similar arrangement exists for officials at the
U.S. Interests Section in Havana.
The Wye Plantation visit required approval
since the five-day period was not observed.
"If people want to believe that Wye Plantation
is being turned into a Cuban re-education camp, they can believe that.
I don't
know any way to convince people otherwise," the official said.
According to several persons on Capitol Hill
and at the State Department, Mr. Collazo was on the list of 10. He is
suspected of physically attacking peaceful anti-Castro demonstrators
outside the section on 16th Street NW on April 14. The
attack is still being investigated, but could result in Cuban diplomats
being expelled.
A Metropolitan Police Department report said
the incident occurred at about 7:30 p.m. when "10 unidentified Cuban
employees of the mission came out and began to assault the demonstrators
on the front sidewalk." The report said there were
about 20 anti-Castro Cuban-Americans on the streets protesting Elian's
return to Cuba.
After the scuffle, Mr. Collazo's business
card was found on the street.
Cuban officials were interviewed by District
of Columbia police, but refused to provide a list of names of those who
were
involved.
While the Clinton administration has continued
to show more cooperation than confrontation with Cuba's communist
government in the continuing Elian Gonzalez matter, a senior State
Department official took pains to criticize as "absolutely
deplorable" actions by Mr. Castro in the case.
Peter Romero, assistant secretary of state,
accused Castro of using the continuing custody battle over the boy in an
effort to
create "a diplomatic-political clash" with the United States. He said
Mr. Castro had "manipulated" the affair for "complete
domestic purposes."
Elian and his family were moved to the secluded
1,100-acre farm 70 miles from Washington after the Justice Department
determined they needed time outside the glare of the media to "bond."
Mr. Diaz-Balart, the Miami congressman, described
the Saturday pre-dawn raid in which the boy was seized from his
Miami relatives as "blatantly illegal."
"They lied under oath, after hours on Good
Friday. It was based on the lie that Elian was an illegal alien. He was
never
illegal," he said. "Now, paid for by U.S. taxpayers, they are systematically
brainwashing that defenseless boy."
Frank Calzon, spokesman for the Center for
a Free Cuba, said the only people not being allowed on the Wye Plantation
are the Miami relatives and the media.
"I thought this was a family dispute. Why
do they need all these diplomats? They are turning the plantation into
something
outside the jurisdiction of the United States," he said.
Meanwhile, Elian was expected to be reunited
Thursday with his former kindergarten teacher and 10-year-old cousin, along
with four of his Cuban classmates, who will be accompanied to this
country by their mothers and one father.
Mr. Castro personally said farewell to the
students as they flew out of Havana, even chatting with the four before
they
boarded a direct charter flight from Havana to Washington. Three of
the children's mothers, and a Cuban pediatrician, Dr.
Caridad Ponce de Leon Narvaez, were also on the small Lear jet. The
fourth child's father was due to take a commercial flight
because there was no room for him on the plane.
The four children were dressed in the red,
white and blue uniforms of the state-affiliated children's "Pioneers" movement
and
held Cuban flags aloft as they boarded the plane.
Among the schoolmates is 6-year-old Hanser
Orlando Muniz Pedroso, whose fame in Cuba is second only to that of Elian.
The pair shared a desk at their school in Cardenas, and Hanser's face
has been reproduced on posters all over Cuba next to
Elian's empty chair adorned with a sign saying: "This chair is untouchable."