Castro Fears Kidnapping Of Elian's Clan

Cuba's President Fidel Castro is happy that Elian Gonzalez has been reunited with his father. But that doesn't make him optimistic about improved U.S.-Cuban relations.

In Havana, CBS News Reporter Tom Gibb says Castro Sunday predicted no letup in long-running U.S. government hostility toward his country.

The Cuban leader described Elian's reunion with father as a "positive step" but he expressed concern that the whole Juan Miguel Gonzalez family -- Elian, father, stepmother and little brother -- now ran the risk of being "kidnapped" in the United States.

"It could be that, after a while, depending on what happens, we might have to fight a battle for the family, because of it being held kidnapped up there," he said.

When reporters asked what impact he expected the Elian case to have on U.S.-Cuban relations, Castro replied: "The normal life of 41 years ... of them attacking us."

While he said he's relieved that government agents were able to take Elian back to his dad, Castro added, "The problem is still not totally resolved."

He pointed out that the boy and his father still have to stay in the United States pending the decision of a U.S. appeals court in May.

He said Juan Miguel Gonzalez's family could be threatened by harassment from the media and from continuing attempts by the Miami relatives and their Cuban exile supporters to keep Elian in the United States.

The Cuban leader made clear he viewed Saturday's seizure, ordered by U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno with the backing of President Bill Clinton, as a rare case in which the desires of the Cuban and U.S. governments had actually coincided.

He explained it was this which had led him, in a mass rally in western Cuba Saturday, to declare a single day "truce" in which he had avoided verbal attacks against Washington.

The 73-year-old Cuban leader spoke after casting his vote in local government elections on the Caribbean island, which offered a choice of candidates to sit on municipal assemblies but no alternatives to one-party communist rule.

As an example of continuing U.S. government hostility despite developments in the Elian case, he cited a censure resolution against Cuba approved last week at the United Nations Human Rights Commission in Geneva.

Castro said the U.S. government had promoted what he called an "infamous" motion at the U.N. rights forum criticizing Havana for repressing political dissidents and religious groups.

Castro was among thousands who attended a government-sponsored rally Saturday evening to celebrate Elian's return to his father. Among those who spoke were the two grandmothers who visited Elian in the U.S. in January.

The Cuban government called on its people to"maintain calm and avoid public displays" over the reunion.

In an official statement read over state radio stations, the government urged Cubans to
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But many in Havana's streets reacted with joy at the news.

"I cried when I heard the news," said a smiling Migdalia Heredia, 51, a state planning worker who almost danced down a rickety apartment staircase in Old Havana to tell the news to a friend.

"It's marvelous!" said her friend, Carmen Diaz, 47, who works at a government office.

"I think what they did is necessary, because reuniting him with his father was necessary," said Carlos Moran, 67, who was opening up a typesetting shop down the street.