For many in this city’s Cuban community, it was like losing their own child: There were hot tears of frustration and even hotter words of anger.
But on the other side of the ethnic chasm, Wednesday’s news of Elian Gonzalez’s repatriation to his Cuban home was met by many of Miami’s non-Hispanics with near joy or anti-climactic aplomb.
As word spread of the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to hear the relatives’ asylum case on Elian’s behalf, Cuban-Americans gathered at what became sacred ground during the seven-month saga, the former Little Havana home of Elian’s great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez.
Throughout the day, a crowd that at times swelled to about 60 milled in the street. They followed the child’s progress on television monitors as he boarded a jet for the flight home.
Women with parasols wept quietly or shouted with passion. Several young men called for violence. Some cursed President Clinton or called out derogatory names for Atty. Gen. Janet Reno.
“My soul has broken!” one teenage girl cried.
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“I don’t think the child will be happy in Cuba,” said Jorge Gonzalez, a friend of the Miami relatives.
There was denial and, even as the plane took off, prayers that the hoped-for miracle might yet occur.
“The struggle for Elian has to continue, even if he’s in Cuba,” said Ramon Saul Sanchez, assuming his familiar role of protest coordinator.
Special ire was reserved for the media, whom Elian’s U.S. relatives once courted so avidly. Earlier in the day, Lazaro Gonzalez shouted in Spanish and lunged at a TV camera after it captured him brooding along Biscayne Bay outside a Coconut Grove church.
In Little Havana, a small crowd attacked a Spanish television reporter, tearing at his clothes and soaking him with a drink.
Exile leaders appealed for calm.
“I’m asking people to react intelligently, to avoid any violence,” said Jose Basulto, leader of the Brothers to the Rescue exile group.
There were the inevitable rallies. In downtown Miami, about a dozen people waved flags and yelled outside the federal courthouse Wednesday afternoon.
They charged at a man who defended the court’s ruling. Police quickly hustled him away.
Later in the day, Sanchez organized a caravan from the Little Havana house to Watson Island, the departure point for a flotilla to Cuba he is planning for July 13.
Underlying many Cubans’ anger was a deep sadness.
“I feel today as if they kidnapped a grandchild of mine,” Basulto said.
“I sat in my room and shed some tears for myself,” said sympathizer Jose Cruz, recalling his immediate reaction to the court’s decision.
Among Miami’s non-Hispanics, news of Elian’s departure was greeted calmly. In downtown Miami, their consensus was that the father-son bond trumps all politics.
“It’s a long time coming,” said Andrew Buchner of Miami. “I think the kid needs to be with his father. There can be good fathers within bad regimes.”
Jay Webster, in Miami on business from New Orleans, described himself as a divorced father who would “move heaven and Earth” to keep his two sons with him. “This boy belongs with his dad.”
Holly Bellows, visiting from Georgia, said she has had her fill of the case. “I’m glad it’s over,” she said. “It is his father. If he wants to go and live in Cuba, that’s his right as a human being.”
The rallies weren’t confined to the Cuban community. In Cutler Ridge, a small, mainly non-Hispanic crowd waved American flags and displayed signs showing support for the government’s action.