Govt’s expert says kin harming Elian

Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, flew to the US on April 7 but has been unable to remove his son from his Miami relatives’ home, in compliance with a January ruling by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. The family of Elian’s great uncle Lazaro Gonzalez defied a Justice Department order to turn the boy over on Thursday and instead filed an injunction with an appeals court preventing the six-year-old from leaving Cuba. The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals could throw out the family’s request.

Alternatively, it could order the Miami relatives to surrender the boy while lawyers tussle over his status, as the government demanded.

The US government is in “enforcement mode”, ready to take quick action once the appellate court issues its ruling, CNN said. A ruling is expected any day.

Meanwhile, Cuban state TV showed images on Monday of a seaside house in Havana ready to receive Elian if the custody dispute over his future ends with his return from the United States.

The large house, with a swimming pool, has been prepared as a residency and school for Elian, his closest family, 12 schoolmates and teachers, during a “transition” period of three months, child experts told Cuban state TV.