A year after Elian, US seeks return of another boy from Cuba

A year after Elian, US seeks return of another boy from Cuba
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

WASHINGTON, NOV 22: A year after castaway Elian Gonzalez left Cuba sparking an international custody dispute, the United States has said that it was seeking the return of a US boy now allegedly on the Communist island.

The State Department confirmed a report that it was assisting a US citizen named Jon Colombini, a Florida resident, in having his five-year-old son, Jonathon, returned to the United States from Cuba where he was brought, apparently illegally, by his mother. ``We're in touch with Colombini, and we're working with him to, first of all, locate his child and then see what we can do to get him returned,'' spokesman Richard Boucher told mediapersons.

``We're in touch with local law enforcement and the FBI as well as the US Interest Section in Havana. Our immediate goals are first of all to locate the child and second of all to verify the child's well-being,'' he said. ``Our hope is certainly that Jonathon Colombini will be returned to his father very soon,'' Boucher said.