By Glenna Milberg
Local 10 Reporter

MIAMI -- The 13-year-old half brother of a girl at the center of an international custody case took the stand Tuesday morning and described how their mother physically abused them, both in Cuba, and after she moved with the children to the United States in 2004.

The Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) will use the boy's testimony to support its allegation that the 4-year-old girl's father, Rafael Izquierdo, is unfit to gain custody of his young daughter. The state maintains that Izquierdo knew his daughter's mother was abusing her, yet allowed her to take the child with her to the United States.

“Did you tell anyone about the abuse?” asked DCF attorney John O’Sullivan.

"I told my grandparents and Rafael (Izquierdo)," answered the boy.

He testified his mother, who won the right to immigrate to the United States in 2004, took her young daughter with her because Izquierdo, a farmer from Central Cuba, refused to take her. Izquierdo’s attorney refuted that, saying Elena Perez took her children because the U.S. Interest Section representatives told her they would receive more help and resources in the U.S.

A year after arriving in the U.S., Perez suffered debilitating mental health issues that led to a suicide attempt, and asked the Florida Department of Children and Families to take custody of the children.

Both have been raised for the last 16 months by foster parents Joe and Maria Cubas, of Coral Gables.

The Cubas adopted the boy, with his father's permission from Cuba. They want to adopt the girl, too, but Izquierdo traveled from Cuba with his wife and 7-year old daughter to claim her.

Perez cried in court as she listened to the son she gave up testify about watching her lash out when his younger half sister cried or talked back.

"She got hit everywhere," he told the court. "My mom would grab her, pull her up by her hair."

During pretrial motions Monday, Judge Jeri Beth Cohen indicated to DCF that she saw little evidence so far that Izquierdo should not be able to gain custody of his daughter.

In child custody cases, the state’s goal is family reunification where at all possible.

Because the case involves the possibility of sending a child back to Cuba, what might be a fairly common child custody case has taken on political overtones.

"This whole process is a farce," said Magda Montiel Davis, one of the attorneys representing Izquierdo. “His only sin, from their point of view, is the fact that he's from Cuba.