MIAMI - A settlement was reached Wednesday in the court battle between a Cuban farmer and a wealthy Florida couple over the man's 5-year-old daughter, and a person familiar with the deal said it gives the farmer sole custody.
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Rafael Izquierdo and his daughter would remain in the U.S. for several years and the girl would regularly visit her U.S. foster parents, according to the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of confidentiality rules. The person said Izquierdo eventually could return to Cuba with his daughter.
The girl and her half-brother, whom the foster parents have adopted, emigrated legally to the U.S. from Cuba with their mother, Elena Perez, in 2005. They went into foster care after Perez, who has a history of psychological troubles, attempted suicide.
The state Department of Children and Families has sided with the foster family and fought to keep the girl in the United States. A department spokeswoman, Flora Beal, confirmed that a settlement has been reached but declined to comment on the details.
"The department has a policy of working out cases as amicably as possible and taking into consideration what is best for the child," Beal said. "It's a win-win situation."
The agreement is still subject to approval by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Jeri B. Cohen, who has scheduled a Tuesday hearing.
Izquierdo's attorney Magda Montiel Davis did not immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The foster parents, former baseball agent Joe Cubas and his wife, Maria, wanted to adopt the girl. Alan Mishael, an attorney for the Coral Gables couple, declined to comment about the settlement.
The state had accused Izquierdo of abandoning and neglecting his daughter by spending little time with her in Cuba and later failing to contact her for nine months once she had moved to the U.S.
Cohen ruled in September that Izquierdo is a fit parent and did not abandon his daughter when her mother brought her to the U.S. But Cohen has delayed hearings on whether the girl would be placed in danger if removed from her foster family and returned to Cuba.
Mishael had expressed concern that the girl's increasing time spent with her father might affect a final decision on her placement.
The case initially drew comparisons to the Elian Gonzalez custody battle, which ended in 2000 when the Clinton administration decided that the young boy should be returned to his father in Cuba against the wishes of relatives in Miami.
The boy was found lashed to an inner tube off Fort Lauderdale after his mother and others perished when their boat sank as they attempted to reach the U.S.
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