A 4-year old Cuban girl in Miami is at the center of a custody battle between her foster father who lives in Coral Gables and her biological father from Cuba. Like something straight out of a sub-par soap op, the biological father is a plantain farmer / fisherman by the name of Rafael Izquierdo (pictured at left in Miami for the case, wearing a gold watch well within the budget of a socialist farmer). He argues that it’s natural for the child to be with her pops in Cuba; meanwhile, the foster father is a former sports agent named Joe Cubas who claims the girl said she wants to stay in the U.S. with him and her brother. (Did we mention Cubas adopted the girl’s half-brother, as well?) Having played out in court behind closed doors since March of ‘06, the case erupted in the press yesterday when its judge lifted a gag order at the request of the foster father. The biological father’s lawyer, Ira Kurzban, naturally saw this as a calculated ploy by Cubas to use the ensuing media frenzy as leverage:

”You’ll see when he’s allowed to go on Spanish- and English-language radio and enflame this community — and we have seen it before,” Kurzban told the judge. “There is a potential for this to turn into another Elián González case.”

We’d say. No longer under that gag order, the girl’s biological mother has stepped forward for the first time to side with her baby’s daddy / former flame. Granted, this is the same woman whose suicide attempt prompted Cuba’s social service to yank custody away in the first place. Telenovela indeed. Stay tuned, kiddies.

2 fathers speak out in Cuban child custody case [Miami Herald]
Image [Al Díaz / Miami Herald]