Miami – A 5-year-old Cuban girl at the center of an international custody dispute should be returned to her father, unless separating the child from her Miami foster parents would cause her extreme harm, a judge ruled Thursday.
Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen said she would not immediately return the girl to her father, farmer Rafael Izquierdo, who wants to take her back to Cuba. But she said he is a fit father and the state would have a difficult time proving a reunion would harm her.
The Florida Department of Children & Families wants the girl to stay with the foster parents. Cohen said she would hold a follow-up hearing to listen to the state’s arguments but urged agency attorneys to “take their blindfold off and see the forest for the trees.”
She suggested all parties enter into mediation.
The girl went into foster care after her mother brought her to the U.S. in 2005 and then attempted suicide days before Christmas.
For the past 18 months, the girl has been living with foster parents Joe and Maria Cubas, a wealthy Cuban-American couple.
State attorneys said Izquierdo abandoned the girl by not keeping in contact with her. Izquierdo denied that and professed his love for her.
Cohen ruled that Izquierdo neither abandoned nor neglected his daughter, even though he went months without communicating with her after she moved to the U.S.
State’s attorneys have said removing the girl from her foster home after such a long time would cause her serious emotional trauma. The department maintains that the girl has bonded with the Cubases and wants to remain with her half brother, whom the couple adopted.
Cohen said the court couldn’t deny Izquierdo custody of his child unless it would endanger her.
At a news conference held outside the courthouse, Izquierdo said in Spanish: “Truth wins.”
Izquierdo said the Cubases knew all along that the girl had a loving father who wanted her back. He said he wants to return home as soon as possible to the central Cuban town of Cabaiguan.
