MIAMI (Reuters) -- A Cuban-born woman who smuggled her American-born
                  5-year-old son into Cuba without his father's permission was indicted in Miami
                  Friday on a federal charge of international parental kidnapping.

                  An arrest warrant was issued for Arletis Blanco, 29, formerly of Key Largo,
                  Florida. She was in Cuba with the boy, however, and it was unclear whether
                  Cuba would extradite her to the United States to stand trial. The two nations have
                  no formal diplomatic relations and no extradition treaty.

                  Blanco and her former husband, American Jonathan Kenneth Colombini, had
                  joint custody of the boy, also named Jonathan.

                  Without consulting the father, Blanco took her son by speedboat to her homeland
                  on Nov. 12 to start a new life. The boy's father is fighting to get him back and
                  went to Cuba in December in an unsuccessful attempt to negotiate for the boy's
                  return.

                  The case has been dubbed "Elian-in-reverse" because of some similarities to the
                  custody dispute over Cuban shipwreck survivor Elian Gonzalez, whose Miami
                  relatives battled U.S. authorities in a highly publicized and unsuccessful attempt
                  to keep the boy from being returned to his father in Cuba after his mother died
                  trying to smuggle him to Miami by boat.

                  But there were differences other than the geographic route that could affect the
                  chances of returning the child to the United States -- namely his mother survived
                  the sea voyage and wants to raise him in Cuba.

                  "I just want to spend my life in a quieter place, where my children can run
                  around, fly kites and ride horses," Blanco told Reuters in November at a relative's
                  house, where she is staying in the tiny locality of Blanca Arena, near the coast in
                  western Pinar del Rio province.

                  U.S. Attorney Guy Lewis said Blanco was charged with kidnapping the boy
                  "with the malicious intent of depriving the father the right of shared custody and
                  visitation." If convicted, she could face up to three years in prison and a $25,000
                  fine.

                  "When a defendant, in clear violation of a court's order, flees to another country,
                  thereby depriving a parent of lawful custody, we must act. The law and the best
                  interest of the child require no less," Lewis said.

                  The arrest affidavit said Blanca left a taped message to relatives in Florida,
                  indicating she was leaving because she had stolen stolen $150,000 from her
                  employer.

                  Once in Cuba, however, she indicated to Cuban police she fled her Key Largo
                  home after becoming entangled in a murky plot involving death threats and
                  anti-Castro exiles.

                     Copyright 2001 Reuters.