Cuban father wants custody of toddler, now in Florida

[Judi Lynn]

Source: McClatchy Newspapers (The Miami Herald)

Posted on Fri, Mar. 23, 2007
By Carol Marbin Miller

McClatchy Newspapers
© 2007, The Miami Herald

MIAMI - A 4-year-old girl living in Coral Gables, Fla., is at the center of an international custody dispute between the United States and Cuba over who will raise her: her father who lives in Cuba and wants her back, or a family acquaintance who Florida child welfare administrators say is more fit.
(snip)

The father has been denied permission by the U.S. State Department to enter the country to appear in court, a decision that has hindered his ability to fight for custody of his daughter. Though state law does not require his presence to grant him custody, many judges insist they meet and scrutinize potential caregivers before agreeing to give them custody.

DCF attorneys are arguing in court that the father in Cuba is unfit to have custody because he took no action to safeguard the daughter from her mother's abusive behavior while she lived on the island, a source said. State workers have not suggested the father himself was physically abusive to the children.

At one point, the girl's mother told child welfare workers she would prefer that the girl live with her father in Cuba rather than in foster care, two sources told The Miami Herald.

Read more: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/nation/16964238.htm

[Bonobo]

1. So the court says the mother was abusive, but the parents that raised

this abusive mother are a better choice than the father?

[1monster]

11. According to the article, the people who are caring for the child are

not relatives of the mother or the child...

[Lasher]

2. What, again?

This will be a handy diversion from all the scandals.

Junior will tell Jeb to hang onto the girl no matter what. Parade her around for the cameras with some defiant Cuban-Americans who are determined to save her from the evil Fidel. Lots of tough talk always plays well. Great way to pick up more votes in Florida and drown out those disgusting news reports about the scandals du jour.

[MonkeyFunk]

8. What can Jeb do about it?

[Lasher]

9. Interfere with the court?

Seems to run in the family.

[MonkeyFunk]

10. How can he do that?

Are you aware Jeb is no longer Governor of Florida?

[Judi Lynn]

12. He was active in Florida politics long before he was elected as Governor.

He also spent some time as Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtiten's campaign manager, one of the Cuban "exile" Congresspeople, and helped her, along with the grandson of former Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista, Raoul Cantero, as they lobbyied to get a pardon for Cuban "exile" bomber/mass murderer, Orlando Bosch, after he had been denied on his exclusionary proceeding, and would have been deported.

No doubt _{Jeb Bush} will remain active and influential there forever, considering he is deeply involved in right-wing wealthy Cuban "exile" politics.

[MonkeyFunk]

13. of course he has some influence

but Lasher said W. would "tell Jeb to hang on to the girl".

How can Jeb hang onto her? He's got no authority at all to do so.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

3. what ever happened to that loud crazy "they broke Elian's bed" chick?

[Judi Lynn]

4. Ha! Hopefully she has gotten a handle over her hysterical fits by now.

Have seen several times that this very poor young lady has somehow opened her own hair salon. Guess someone in Miami rewarded her for being a good girl and fighting like hell to keep that child from his father.

You may remember that in one event, driving to see the Catholic sister, Jeanne, where they would meet Elián's grandmothers from Cuba (one of them was her dad's mother), the man who drove her there was the head of the Cuban American National Foundation, which has financed terrorism over the decades against Cuban citizens, and who owns a very LARGE business in Florida and in Spain, Jorge Mas Santos, son of former Miami "godfather" type, Jorge Mas Canosa.

She may have gotten a small grant from some of his organization's members.

[David__77]

14. Oh Marisleysis

The sight of her is simply revolting. Sorry, but I was disgusted by her and her Miami relatives' tactics back then. Horrible.

[izzie]

5. I am glad the Christian value people are staying in the South.

I can not say anything else after the last time.

[gorbal]

6. Here is another snippit from the article-

Within about a year of the mother's arrival, however, she stopped taking psychiatric medication, and long-term parenting problems emerged, several sources said. Following a call to the state's child-abuse and neglect hot line, DCF investigators took custody of the two children.

So it isn't obvious that she was always like this with the kids, and when she was something "pressured" her to take the medication that kept her from being violent. I wonder if it was her husband.

I wonder if he gave up custody for his kids to have a better life? If so, bad call. But that doesn't mean his children shouldn't be with him. Children in foster care are the most miserable kids on the planet.

[Mika]

15. Its all about jurisdiction. The Hague convention on child custody states..

.. that jurisdiction resides in the country of habitual residence of the child and living parent(s) with custody.

Unlike the Elian case, it looks like the jurisdiction of this legal case resides in Miami-Dade, Fla., USA.

Not exactly the place for ANY kind of fair/neutral hearing on ANY issue regarding ANYTHING Cuba(n).

[LiberalFighter]

17. Has Cuba signed on to that provision?

[Mika]

20. Yes, Cuba is a signatory.

http://www.pca-cpa.org/ENGLISH/CSAI/

[Lil Missy]

7. Oh no, not again. Another Elian Gonzales in the works.

[Shakespeare]

18. Not with Bush in the White House.

Unfortunately for the father, he doesn't stand a chance with this administration. :-(

[LiberalFighter]

16. Unless there are other factors the child should go back to Cuba

The mother is unable to care for the child properly.
The mother is willing for the father to have custody.
There are no other close relatives in the U.S. that could take custody.
The father has legally filed to take custody.

How would this be handled if it was between two parents living in different states?

If custodial parent moves to a state different from the non-custodial parent and the divorce took place in the state that the non-custodial parent lives... which court has jurisdiction?

As far as I am concerned natural parents have primary right to custody to their children.

If the father is unfit to raise the child then NO.

[youngdem]

19. Time for another South Florida "Pander to the Crazies" contest

"I hate Castro times 50" = Candidate 1

"Nuh UH, I hate Castro times INFINITY!" - Candidate 2

"OH YEAH, well, I'm swimming over there TONIGHT to take Castro out myself" - Candidate 1

"Well I want to poke a hole in Cuba to sink it!" - Candidate 2

[Mika]

21. Newcomer, & front runner candidate #3: "Nuke Castro & turn Cuba into a parking lot" n/t

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

22. Oh, God, not this shit again.

So let me get this straight. The father... who is in Cuba did nothing to prevent the mother, who went off her meds in the United States(where he is not allowed to visit) from harming the child. What was he supposed to use to accomplish this? Telepathy?

Yes, I suppose it is his fault. Had he really wanted to take care of the child, he'd have overthrown Castro so that Cubans would be allowed into the US on reasonable terms again.

[kskiska]

23. Where is the demand for the father's appearance in Florida?

Juan Gonzales was criticized for not immediately traveling to claim his son. How is it that this child's father will not be permitted to travel - by the US?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

24. This child should not be separated from her brother

Their relationship may be the only stable element of their lives.