The demonstration received international coverage, with huge photographs in the media, especially Spanish-language newspapers. Stretching several miles according to the press reports, the action showed the resolve of the Cuban people in the face of U.S. government provocations.

Decisions by the Clinton administration this week mean the González boy's return has been postponed indefinetely.

White House chief of staff John Podesta said on the ABC news program "This Week" that "the best place for this to be decided is in a court of law." He was referring to the Justice Department's decision to not return González to Cuba, but to open the way for a federal court hearing on his custody.

This is the best course, the White House spokesman said, "rather than the halls of Congress. But, you know, we'll have to wait and see what they propose and take that on when they get back to town." Sen. Connie Mack of Florida and four congresspeople have proposed granting González U.S. citizenship, an action supported by Senate majority leader Trent Lott.

Ricardo Alarcón, president of the National Assembly of Cuba, said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that citizenship "should not be used for that kind of maneuvering." Later, on "Fox News Sunday," he added, "Congress is supposed to be a serious institution and not an instrument to permit what amounts to a kidnapping of a small boy."

As has been the aim all along, the refusal to return the boy to his father simply gives more time for anti-Cuba slanders to be ground out every day.

U.S. senator and Republican Party presidential hopeful John McCain said he favored citizenship for the boy, since "his mother made the ultimate sacrifice in order that he might breathe free."

The boy's mother drowned when the boat in which she was traveling from Cuba sank. She was trying to enter the United States illegally under U.S. statutes that encourage such risky attempts. The law says anyone who lands on U.S. shores is granted U.S. residency within a year. There has been no evidence presented to back up McCains's assertion.  
 
 
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