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CNN Saturday Morning News

Emigration From Cuba is Problematic

Aired June 30, 2001 - 08:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This past week marked the one year anniversary of Elian Gonzalez's return to Cuba with his father. CNN's Lucia Newman reports on a new domestic drama involving another young Cuban child.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LUCIA NEWMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Four-year-old Giselle Cordova doesn't know it, but her mother died in a motorcycle accident less than two weeks ago. The child's father is on the other side of the Florida Straits in Miami, trying to be reunited with Giselle and her half brother, Yusniel.

DR. LEONEL CORDOVA, FATHER: As soon as I asked for the visa to them to come to this country, the government of the United States responded very well, very quickly, but everything depends on the Cuban government now.

NEWMAN: Another case like Elian but in the reverse? Not quite.

TANIA CORDOVA, AUNT: It's similar in what happened, but with a different solution, because in the case of Elian there was a lot of conflict, a lot of tension, one family fighting the other. In this case, everyone is in agreement.

NEWMAN: Dr. Cordova defected from Cuba more than a year ago, leaving behind his daughter and wife, Rosalba, seen here in an interview last year with CNN.

(on camera): While they were starting the paperwork to be reunited in the United States, Rosalba died, leaving Giselle and her 11-year-old son from a previous marriage without a mother. The boy's biological father has consented to his son going to Miami with his half sister to join Cordova.

LAZARO HERNANDEZ, BOY'S FATHER: He's the one who really brought him up since he was two years old.

NEWMAN: While the Cuban government has said it will show no consideration to defectors' families who want to reunite abroad, in this case it has bent over backwards, eager to avoid any negative comparison with Elian Gonzalez.

TANIA CORDOVA: I started the paperwork on Tuesday and today is Thursday. In three days, everything has been done.

NEWMAN: Record time for Cuba, where citizens must go through complicated and expensive procedures to obtain permission to leave the island. Little Giselle hasn't been told of her mother's death. Her father is planning to break the news himself when they're finally reunited in the United States. That's expected early next week.

Lucia Newman, CNN, Artemisa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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