Castro Bests The Miami Cubans

As dozens of world leaders arrive in Havana for this week's "Group of 77" international summit of developing nations, Cuban President Fidel Castro has the perfect venue to step up the pressure about Elian Gonzalez.

You might expect more speeches and demonstrations there, reports CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston, but none are scheduled, because in the battle for public opinion, Castro has already won.

Wayne Smith, former chief of the U.S. Interest Section in Havana, says, "I think Castro's score is quite high. He was able to use the Elian case to rally public opinion."

Smith thinks Castro's opponents are their own worst enemies. He says, "The big loser is quite clearly the Miami Cubans who handled themselves in such a questionable manner, and I think lost influence with American government and with American public opinion."

The Cuban government has seized this opportunity to take aim at what has become an easy target.

Ricardo Alarcon, the president of the Cuban National Assembly, says, "Now you see them in action using a little boy just to satisfy their mean and narrow political interest."

Not that Castro hasn't used his own people to satisfy Cuba's political interests.

The Cuban government built a demonstration space that can seat thousands of government-sponsored demonstrators in front of the Havana U.S. Interest Section after Elian was rescued from the waters off Miami in November.

But with his uncanny sense of timing, Castro knows he must take the high road when Elian comes home.

Alarcon says there will be "No big parades or small parades" when Elian comes back.

He says, "The most important thing is to return to a normal life, that implies privacy… to mourn, to cry for his mother."

While this looks like a victory for Castro, it was an easy one. For the first time in 40 years he had support where he least expected it -– from the U.S. government.