U.S.

Miami's Rude Welcome For Reno

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

May 26, 2000 / 9:08 AM EDT / CBS

Attorney General Janet Reno's first trip to Florida since she ordered the seizure of Elian Gonzalez drew hundreds of protesters angry about the return of the 6-year-old to his Cuban father.

Reno returned to her hometown Thursday to deliver the keynote address at a dinner honoring Florida's first 150 female lawyers. The nearly 900 people who attended the dinner gave her a warm welcome, though a handful walked out on her speech.

"It is so wonderful to be home," Reno said. "People have touched my life in so many ways with love and kindness, with joy and support and sometimes with anger and rejection. My skin has thickened a bit, but I still long to see you."

Outside the Sheraton Bal Harbour Hotel, Cuban-Americans waving banners and shouting slogans faced off with Reno supporters, CBS News Correspondent Terisa Estacio reports.

"It is abusive to send (Elian) back to an oppressive country," protestor Jose Navarro said. "My father was jailed there when he was 14."

To make sure Reno got the message, demonstrators mounted protests by boat, plane and land, reports CBS News Correspondent Randall Pinkston.

"This has nothing to do with Cuban problems. It's about the violation of the law," said Julio Villa, 53, who wore a photo of Reno marked with a red slash across her face.

The handful of supporters were mostly drowned out by honking horns and shouting anti-Reno protestors.

"This is America. We stand behind Janet Reno," Dr. Janet Gentle said.

One supporter, Bob Kunst, said it was important to give Reno "support and love and welcome her back and let her know not to be afraid."

"At the same time, we are sending a message to the Cuban right wing that we've had enough," he said.

The crowd of demonstrators, who were joined by Haitian Americans angry about federal rules they said threaten to separate families, grew to about 600 but thinned to less than 100 by the end of Reno's speech.

Elian, who survived the November sinking of a boat carrying Cuban refugees, has been living in the Washington area with his father since the April 22 raid in Little Havana. A federal court has been asked to decide if he is eligible for a political asylum hearing.

Reno did not directly mention Elian's case during her remarks.

Reno had told Florida Bar officials that she would step aside if they felt her presence would detract from Thursday's ceremony. The Cuban American Bar Association withdrew its support of the event to protest the raid and the Clinton administration's position that Elian's father should be allowed to take the boy back to Cuba.

Bar spokeswoman Francine Walker said there was never any question that Reno should speak because she is the first woman to serve as attorney general and Florida's most famous female lawyer.

"She is a pioneer," Walker said.

Reno, who passed the bar exam in 1963, is no part of the honored group. The last of the first 150 women joined the Florida Bar in 1943. Only 13 are still living.