[NYTr] More Twists and Testimony Changes in Cuban Child's Custody Case Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 23:57:20 -0500 (CDT) Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit [This is a sickening case of an obviously mentally ill Cuban mother who left her home with her two children, lost them to the care of Florida's foster care system when she attempted suicide, and then to the tender mercies of a well-known trafficker in Cuban athletes, who have adopted the girl's half-brother and want to adopt her. The 4-yer-old's Cuban father arrived in the US in June to fight for her return -- something both the birth mother and he want. The rich and famous would-be adoptive father,Joe Cubas, and the State of Florida, are fighting the parents' custody wishes. Unfortunately the very unstable mother is creating legal chaos with her conflicting tales, including accusing the father's lawyers (one of whom is Ira Kurzban, a very well-known attorney with a good reputation) of unethical conduct. Among the idiotic claims? The father hasn't sent her a birthday card. How, exactly, is one supposed to send a birthday card from Cuba to Miami? Most of the mail that is sent never is delivered in the US if it goes through normal channels. There's no doubt that the sick mother is being manipulated by Cubas and his hired legal guns. Next they will be claiming, a la the Elian kidnappers, that she must have adoptive parents who can give her a pony for her welfare to be safeguarded. The girl's identity is supposedly being protected, although both the father and mother have now been identified by name in the press, and The New York Times has published a photograph of the mother on the witness stand. To top it all off, her would-be adoptive father is more than famous; he's notorious. How much privacy can this child expect to grow up with if she is handed over to these people? The entire case is absolutely disgusting from the point of view of the child's welfare. This woman clearly belongs in psychiatric treatment, and should be declared mentally incompetent to assert parental rights and unfit to regain custody of her two children. She chose to come to the US -- let her live with the consequences and take her chances, but don't inflict her lousy judgment on a defenseless child of 4. The girl's father is entitled to get his daughter back and Joe Cubas should be told he isn't making trades for Cuban deserter baseball players but attempting to grab a Cuban child who isn't his and doesn't need his protection. She needs to go home to Cuba and be left alone by the press, the US courts snd the predatory gusanos in Miami, before the case becomes any more of a cause celebre and another media circus. -NY Transfer] The New York Times - Sep 2, 2007 http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/02/us/02adopt.html 8 Years After EliC!n, a Cuban Custody Battle By TERRY AGUAYO MIAMI, Sept. 1 b Almost eight years after the custody battle over EliC!n GonzC!lez took center stage here, a similar situation involving another Cuban child is playing out in a local courtroom. The dispute this time involves a 4-year-old girl who came to the United States from Cuba in 2005 with her mother and her 13-year-old half-brother. At issue is whether the girlbs father, a Cuban farmer who arrived in Miami in June with his wife and 7-year-old daughter to fight for his younger daughterbs custody, is fit to raise her. The father, Rafael Izquierdo, allowed the girlbs mother to take her to the United States, but several months after her arrival, the mother attempted suicide and the state Department of Children and Families took custody of the two children. The children, who have different fathers, were placed in foster care, and since April 2006 the girl has been in the care of Joe Cubas, a wealthy real estate developer and former sports agent, and his wife. The boy, whose father had surrendered parental rights, was formally adopted by the Cubases, who also want to adopt the girl. Mr. Cubas, who is well known in the Cuban-American community here for helping star baseball players defect to the United States in the 1990s, has the support of the Department of Children and Families in his effort. bThe child is ecstatic living where she is,b said Alan Mishael, a lawyer for Mr. Cubas. Lawyers for the Department of Children and Families argue that Mr. Izquierdo, 32, is not a fit father because he acted irresponsibly by allowing his daughter to emigrate to the United States with her mother, Elena PC)rez, whom they say he knew to be mentally unstable. His lawyers reject that claim. bWe want to keep the focus on whether or not a dad has the right to have his child,b said Ira Kurzban, one of the fatherbs lawyers. bD.C.F. has not proven any neglect by our client Rafael.b Ms. PC)rez, who has said she wants her daughter to return to Cuba with her father, has repeatedly given conflicting testimony and created chaos in court, driving Judge Jeri B. Cohen of Circuit Court in Miami-Dade County to take a recess to seek legal guidance. On Friday, the fifth day of the trial, Ms. PC)rez told the judge that family photos she had testified to have sent to Mr. Izquierdo in Cuba were never sent. She said she gave the photos to one of Mr. Izquierdobs lawyers who kept them to later show them as evidence in court. On Thursday, Ms. PC)rez admitted lying to the judge, saying that letters from the girlbs father she had previously testified to having received were actually fabricated by one of the fatherbs lawyers. bI have tried to twist some things around to favor the father,b she said. But Judge Cohen said she was bvery concernedb about her allegations. Mr. Kurzban adamantly denied anyone in his team had fabricated the letters, saying Ms. PC)rez, 35, has ba serious mental problem.b The girlbs case evokes that of EliC!n GonzC!lez, who was 5 years old when he was found floating on an inner tube off Florida after the boat in which he and his mother tried to reach American soil capsized in 1999. His mother drowned, and EliC!n was placed in the care of his Miami relatives, stirring a custody fight between the relatives and the boybs Cuban father who, like Mr. Izquierdo, traveled to the United States to claim custody. At the time, thousands of Cuban-Americans held daily protests outside the Little Havana home where EliC!n lived, and tens of thousands took to the streets in protest when the boy was reunited with his father in Cuba. This time, though, the Cuban-American community does not appear to be as emotionally involved in the outcome. RamC3n Saul SC!nchez, leader of the Democracy Movement, an anti-Castro group, said he believed this case should be decided by the judge. bIn EliC!nbs case, the mother wanted to bring him here and died in the process,b said Mr. SC!nchez, who led many of the protests surrounding that case. bIn this case, both parents want her in Cuba.b Bernard Perlmutter, a family law professor at the University of Miami who has followed both cases, said there were some differences between them. bThis matter is appropriately being adjudicated in a family court,b Mr. Perlmutter said of the girlbs case. bWe donbt have all of the immigration issues that were so complicated and controversial in the EliC!n case.b Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company *** The Kansas City Star - Sep 3, 2007 http://www.kansascity.com/276/story/259158.html Children shouldnbt be pawns for politics By MARY SANCHEZ One can only hope the lessons of Elian Gonzalez will hold. A saga eerily similar to Elianbs is unfolding in Miami. This time, the child is a 4-year-old Cuban girl. Her mother brought her to the United States, but subsequently attempted suicide and was judged mentally unstable. Her father, a farmer, has come to take the child back to Cuba, but her wealthy foster family wants to adopt her. Thankfully, the little girlbs name is not public. No photos have been published. Newspapers and other media have wisely let ethics guide. But the girlbs custody case, until now carried on behind closed doors in a circuit court, has come under increasing public scrutiny. The family that seeks to adopt the toddler is well-known and controversial. The father, Joe Cubas, made millions as a sports agent, delivering Cuban defectors to Major League Baseball teams. Cubas, the son of Cuban exiles, is known for ruthlessly hunting down promising athletes, then convincing them to leave Cuba for the chance of sports fame in the United States b and profitable contracts, in which he shares. His strong-arm tactics led the Major League Baseball Players Association to suspend his license. Thatbs not to say the Cubas family would not make a good home for the girl. They have already adopted her older halfbrother. The boy, a teen-ager, wants to stay in the United States b with his half sister. Joe Cubas and his lawyers say the little girl should stay, too, claiming her father is unfit to be a parent. Among other evidence: Hebs never sent her a birthday card. The father, however, has the best argument: He is her father. Despite the growing drama, there have been no massive protests like those that surrounded Elian. Common sense just might prevail. Maybe the Cuban-American community has learned from the Elian case. Perhaps the image of the terrified little boy seared into peoplebs consciousness and taught a lesson: Children should not be pawns for the politics of adults. Nearly eight years have passed since Elianbs story began. Elianbs mother, recall, died at sea, as so many Cuban people have, attempting to reach the United States in a flimsy boat. Elian survived. Relatives in Miami quickly welcomed the boy. But his father, who lived in Cuba, wanted him back. A media circus ensued. Vigils were staged outside the Florida home where Elian lived. For too many, the boybs plight symbolized everything bad about Castrobs Cuba. But the most lasting image of Elian was of armed federal agents ripping the terrified child from the arms of a relative. Elian, now a teenager, is back in Cuba with his father, where he belongs. The same should happen with this little girl. Strip away the politics and the case is pretty clear. Florida officials canbt produce any records indicating that the mother gave up custody. She wants her daughter to be raised by the father, whom she never married. The father should be allowed to have his child. To decide otherwise will drive us back to pre-1972, when fathers who were not wed to the mothers in such cases had few rights. We should also remember this countrybs checkered history with adoption. Native children once were stolen from their parents and given to white families to raise as their own, far from the reservation. After the Vietnam War, thousands of Vietnamese children, many of whom were not orphans, were airlifted to the United States to be placed with families who quickly changed their names to Bobby, Timmy and Sally. Even in this case, the scent of such paternalistic attitudes lingers. Some in the media have asked if the girl will have as good a life in Cuba as she would have with the Cubas family in the United States. The implication: A rich adoptive guardian is preferable to a poor biological parent. As if income determines the amount of love in a home. But a child who is desired by a natural parent has not been babandoned,b as lawyers have contended in this case. Rafael Izquierdo, the father, allowed the mother to take the child to the United States with the hope of a better life. But the decision was contingent on the girl being raised by her mother. She is not the first immigrant mother whose dreams of a better life in the United States didnbt materialize. Elianbs mother suffered a worse fate. But here, as in Elianbs case, the child should not lose both parents to that failed dream. B) 2007 Kansas City Star and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. * ================================================================= .NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems . Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us . .339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org . List Archives: https://blythe-systems.com/pipermail/nytr/ . Subscribe: https://blythe-systems.com/mailman/listinfo/nytr =================================================================