As more pressure was brought on Elian's Miami relatives to turn the boy over to his father, the group of supporters has grown, numbering in the hundreds on some nights. On Thursday, when it was feared that federal marshals could arrive to take away Elian, the crowd of demonstrators swelled into the thousands. It's a free country, you don't have to go back to Cuba. Nonetheless Everywhere you look in the crowd you see Cuban flags. Still others in the crowd wear T-shirts with the boy's photograph printed on the front.
Crowds gather in packs around transistor radios, anxious to hear the latest.
Others gather around a sound truck from a local radio station whose disc jockeys sat on the roof of a van, leading chants in between salsa records. Pressed up against the metal police barricades closest to the Gonzalez home are the most passionate and vocal of the demonstrators. But while there are angry demonstrators and even those police would describe as agitators, the scene remains peaceful. That could bring another kind of storm here. Click here for Terms of Use and Privacy Policy and Internet Safety Information applicable to this site.