Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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Nation & World Elian from page 4 disembaited from a small chartered plane at Dulles International Airport at dawn Thursday, accompanied by his wife, Ner cy Carmenate Castillo, and their infant son, Hianny. “This is Elian’s true fami ly, and we love him very much,” he said “It’s been an agonizing experience to see my son submitted to cruel psy chological pressures aimed at influenc ing his personality,” Gonzalez said speak ing through an interpreter. “Worse still, Elian’s been paraded and exhibited in public rallies and by the media with a clear intent to obtain political advan tage” from the tragedy that befell him last November, when his mother died while en route with Elian to South Flori 1 ... Elian’s been parad ed and exhibited in public rallies and by the media with a clear intent to obtain political advantage.' Juan Miguel Gonzalez Elian’s father da from Cuba. Elian survived the ship wreck. “As if his mother’s disappearance before his eyes and the miracle of his ar rival have not inflicted enough damage on a 5-year-old boy, he has had to spend time under the temporary custody of some distant relatives who had never seen him before,” he said. President Clinton, interviewed on CBS, said, “The fact that the father has come here, and will be in a position to show his concern for, and desire to be reunited with, his son, should be a big help.” But the Miami relatives were not swayed by Gonzalez’s arrival in the Unit ed States. Lazaro Gonzalez, the great-uncle who has cared for Elian for the past four months, “was almost in tears” when he heard the father’s statement, said Ar mando Gutierrez, a spokesman for the Miami relatives. “He felt that that is not his nephew. He felt that was not the per son he knows.” Juan Miguel Gonzalez spent the day k resting at the suburban Washington home of Cuba’s chief diplomat in Whshington. He had a late afternoon appointment with his American lawyer, Gregory Craig, who flew to Cuba on Tuesday to help arrange the father’s visit. Several anti-Castro demonstrators spoke with reporters outside the home after greeting the father at the airport with placards saying “ Wfelcome to Free dom.” Several shouted the same slogan but Gonzalez paid them no heed. It was quite a different scene in Miami, where the number of demon strators around Lazaro Gonzalez’s house swelled to more than 200 by midafter noon. Some held Cuban flags; others car ried lilies and carnations — to greet Juan Miguel Gonzalez, they said. “Let the boy stay” was a frequent chant. From a small radio, the Cuban national anthem played. Cuban President Fidel Castro was at the airport in Havana to bid farewell to the Gonzalez family when they depart ed before dawn. Gonzalez said Castro “has been like a brother giving me ad vice and support through our long days of pain and uncertainty.” Elian’s Miami relatives have asked the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta to overturn a federal judge’s ruling in late March affirming the INS decision to return Elian to his father. Opening arguments are scheduled in > r’fSt u month. Although Holder noted that the gov ernment has no written promise from the father that he will stay in this coun try with Elian until the appeal is com pleted, he and other Justice officials said they had been told by his attorney that Gonzalez was willing to do that. The government cannot force Gon zalez to remain in this country, but they could issue a “departure control order” preventing Elian from leaving. “It’s very rarely done, and that’s not where we want to go,” said one official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Should the Miami relatives refuse to hand over custody, the government has the option of sending them a letter that would formally advise them that Elian’s temporary care was being transferred to 1 ‘jd } Miguel Gonzalez. Under this op tion, the relatives would receive a sec ond letter shortly thereafter outlining when and where to turn over Elian. It’s not clear what would happen next if the relatives ignored the letters. Authorities issue arrest warrants for cult leaders by Andrew England The Associated Press Kampala, Uganda — Ugandan au thorities issued arrest warrants Thursday for leaders of the deadly doomsday cult, saying they assumed the six had sur vived the sect’s fiery end and gone into hiding. Meanwhile, documents obtained by The Associated Press show national of ficials warned local police about the cult in January. The local police dismissed the reports of children’s kidnappings and mass graves as “a little bit unfounded,” ac cording to the documents. Thursday’s arrest warrants were the first in Uganda’s nearly three-week in vestigation, which started when the sect’s chapel burst into a gasoline-fueled in ferno, burning alive 530 people sealed inside. Subsequent searches turned up 394 more corpses stuffed in mass graves and a latrine pit. The warrants name the most promi nent sect figures: official sect leader Joseph Kibwetere, known as “The Prophet;” and Credonia Mwerinde, an ex-banana beer vendor known as “The Programmer” and widely seen as the true mastermind of the sect. Also charged is Dominic Kataribabo, a defrocked Roman Catholic priest who some locals believe perished in the March 17 fire. The three others named - Joseph Kas apurari, John Kamagara and Ursula Ko muhangi - were listed on registration pa pers and other documents of the Movement for the Restoration of die Ten Commandments of God. All six are charged with 10 counts of murder. They face death by hanging if caught and convicted. Police said the murder counts repre sent the first 10 victims to be positively identified. Many of the 924 corpses found so far were burned or rotted past recog nition and hastily interned without study. The search for more bodies has been sus pended indefinitely for lack of proper equipment, including rubber gloves for the inmates put to work exhuming the mass graves. The cult leaders have not turned up among the confirmed dead. “We believe they are alive and in hid ing,” said Erasmus Opia, acting director of the Criminal Investigation Division in Kampala. “We have no evidence to the contrary.” No clues have surfaced as to the whereabouts of the cult leaders. 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