Six-year-old Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez visited a Miami school holding a desk for him yesterday, as Cuban President Fidel Castro blasted attempts to “destroy” the boy’s identity.
Elian visited the private bilingual Lincoln Marti School, where he was greeted by students waving banners in English and Spanish.
“He came in today, and you could see he already liked the place and seemed ready to get back to his studies,” said Patricia Casariego, school administrator.
The school has arranged to donate Elian’s tuition, books and uniforms from the first through 12th grades, at a cost of $40,000.
U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service spokesman Russ Bergeron said Elian is entitled to attend school while his immigration status is in limbo.
“Any child who is physically in the U.S. can go to school,” he said.
Elian’s father, Juan Gonzalez, has shown INS officials in Havana documents proving he is the boy’s parent and that he cared for him.
The paperwork is being reviewed in Washington. Bergeron would not say when a decision would be made on whether to return the boy to his father in Cuba.
“We will render the final decision,” he said, adding, however, that “any court action may affect our decision.”
A team of lawyers retained by Elian’s relatives in Miami has filed a petition for asylum, which requires a court date within 60 days.
Castro yesterday denounced the boy’s Miami relatives, especially for taking the child to Disney World.
“They are trying to simply dazzle the child with all these things,” Castro said in an interview with NBC’s “Today” show.
“According to the father, the boy has been coerced. They feel that their boy is not acting naturally. Why do they want to delay this return of the child — to be able to change the child’s mentality, to destroy his identity?”