Wednesday, August 29, 2007

Elian redux? - Parents battle over Cuban girl’s custody in Miami

A custody battle currently taking place in south Florida may possibly boil over like the affair over Elian Gonzalez in 1999 and 2000. However, the complexities of the case reveal a different story.

Cuban fisherman Rafael Izquierdo is in court seeking custody of his biological daughter who was taken legally to the U.S. in 2005 with his consent by her mother- Elena Perez. Shortly after, Perez attempted suicide and the state of Florida took custody of the girl. She would soon be adopted by Joe Cubas- a former sports agent who represented several Cuban defectors including Orlando “el Duque” Hernandez.

Cuban-American activist and attorney Pedro Freyre told the South Florida Sun-Sentinel that the case will not be like the hullabaloo over Elian:

"It is being decided as Elian should have been ... instead of being decided in the streets of Miami," he said. "The fact pattern in this one is different, and it just got handled differently from the beginning."

The ardor of the Cuban exile community also appears to have cooled since the Elian case, Freyre said. That could be partly because of a generational shift, he said.

"We're all a little older and wiser and disconnected," said Freyre, who is not involved in this case.

In testimony yesterday the girl’s half-brother alleged that Perez was very physically abusive towards him and his siblings but also described Izquierdo as “not a bad guy.”

Image- BBC News (Elena Perez sits in court behind Rafael Izquierdo)

Sources- BBC News, Times Online, Baltimore Sun, International Herald Tribune, PBS

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