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Elian's Florida Relatives Says They will Obey US LawLocal relatives of Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban boy at the center of a heated international custody battle, on Saturday reiterated that they will obey US law in the matter, but asked that the boy be independently evaluated before any decisions are made."We have and will continue to obey the laws of this country," the boy's great uncle Lazaro Gonzalez said in a statement distributed by family spokesman Armando Gutierrez. "Respectfully, however, before anyone takes any further action, we ask that in order to truly understand what is the right thing to do for Elian, that independent psychological evaluations be conducted to determine the impact of any such actions on Elian's fragile psychological condition," the statement said. The family also restated their desire for the boy's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, to come to their home without official intervention. "We repeat our appeal to Juan Miguel to come to our home with his wife and son and sit with us around the family table," the statement said. "We want no government officials, no lawyers, and no press ... only family." Earlier, a lawyer for the family said they would not hand the boy to his father if he comes to Miami, though they had previously indicated that they would. Now, Lazaro Gonzalez says he will wait until court appeals on whether or not the boy can apply for political asylum are completed. The statements came amid a tense political standoff between the US government and South Florida's Cuban-American community, which has become a factor in US presidential politics. Talks between the US Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) and Elian's relatives in Miami remain at a standstill since they broke off late Thursday. The two sides said they would reconvene on Monday, and the INS has given the family until Tuesday to provide written guarantees that if it loses its court appeals, Elian would be surrendered to authorities. Relatives in Miami have cared for the boy since November 25, when he was rescued off the Florida coast after his mother died in a shipwreck while trying to reach US shores. The Miami family wants Elian to remain in the United States permanently, despite his father's pleas for his son's return to Cuba. But now Elian's father is poised to fly to Washington to reclaim his son. Havana wants to send a 30-member delegation along with Juan Miguel Gonzalez, including his second wife, their four-month-old son, a favorite cousin of Elian's, teachers, and psychologists. US authorities were prepared to grant visas to Elian's father, but were less clear about the other members of the group. Meanwhile, US lawmakers are considering a bill that would give permanent residency not only to Elian but also to his father, the father's new wife and child as well as to both of Elian's grandmothers. The measure won the support of US Vice President Al Gore, who broke ranks with the Clinton administration on the issue. But in an open letter to US congressional leaders, Elian's relatives in Cuba said they did not want to become legal American residents and that they opposed the legislation. "We frankly are surprised that someone could undertake this initiative without our consent and without even consulting our opinion," Juan Miguel Gonzalez said in the letter, published in the Cuban communist party newspaper Granma. "We particularly reject, even more steadfastly, the real aim of this proposal, which is nothing more than to extend Elian Gonzalez's retention in US territory," seven other relatives of Elian wrote. Gore's support for the bill quickly drew charges that he was playing politics with the issue in a bid to win over Miami's powerful Cuban-American community and to secure Florida, a key electoral state in the November election. "Instead of subjecting Elian and his family to another difficult weekend of doubt, Al Gore should use his influence today to give Elian a ray of hope," said Texas Governor George W. Bush, who is running as a Republican presidential candidate in the November 2000. (China Daily)
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