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Elian Gonzalez

The story of Elian Gonzalez is a real-life drama of a young Cuban boy caught up in a tug-of-war between hostile nations: a tale of sacrifice, love, family, freedom, parental rights, politics, law, publicity and diplomacy.

Eleven years later, the story still has the power to elicit strong emotions from people who have never met the boy.
At 4 AM on November 21, 1999 five-year old Elian Gonzalez, his mother Elizabeth and twelve others launched a small motorboat in Cuba, attempting to cross 90 miles of turbulent sea to the United States. A storm sank the boat and all but three of the travelers drowned, including Elian’s mother. Two days after the accident, Elian was found floating on an inner tube by a fisherman and taken to Miami where he was placed by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) into the care of his paternal great uncle, Lazaro, who later applied for asylum for and custody of the boy. Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, a member of the Communist Party in Cuba, demanded his return, beginning an international incident between two estranged nations. Cuban-Americans in Miami’s Little Havana community vocally supported Elian’s uncle while Fidel Castro vocally supported Juan Miguel’s claim, charging that Elian had been kidnapped by the U.S. government.

Elian Gonzalez the Legal, Political and Publicity Battle

Since the Communist revolution in Cuba in the 1950’s, relations between Cuba and the United States have been hostile and many thousands of refugees have escaped to the U.S.

The Cuban Adjustment Act allows refugees who manage to get to dry ground in the U.S. to remain and apply for residence, while those who are intercepted at sea are repatriated to Cuba.
The issues in this case included who had the right to speak for the child, what weight his own request for asylum carried, what future would be in his best interest, and the personal implications returning to Cuba would have on his life given the political notoriety his situation had engendered.

On January 5 the INS ruled that Elian should be returned to his father in Cuba.
The news hit the airwaves with an uproar of opinion while Elian’s Miami relatives refused to give up the boy, requesting the case be heard in Family Court and his father and the Cuban government kept up the pressure. Congressional representatives weighed in on the controversy, unsuccessfully introducing a bill to grant citizenship to the boy.
The stalemate continued while Congress debated, lawyers wrangled and politicians from Miami, Florida and the upcoming Presidential election weighed in.
As March turned into April, Elian’s father arrived in Washington to claim his son, declaring his intention to return with him to Cuba, and Lazaro’s case wound its way through state and federal courts. On April 19th a Federal Appeals Court ruled that, while Elian’s custody could be transferred to his father, he may not be removed from the country until the case was heard in the Court, slated for May.

Elian Gonzalez the Early Morning Raid

Early in the morning of April 20, more than 20 armed federal agents entered the Gonzalez home and forcibly removed Elian, taking him to Washington where he was reunited with his father. The action spurred violent protests in Miami, where 80 people were arrested and an eruption of public opinion on the methods used as well as the decision taken to remove Elian. On June 1 the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that neither Elian himself nor his Miami relatives could pursue asylum and on June 28th, after a final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court failed, Elian Gonzalez and his father departed for Cuba, ending the half-year battle, if not the controversy.

Aftermath

After his return to Cuba, as predicted by many in the U.S., Elian became a poster-child for the Communist regime, prominently displayed at parades and spending time with Fidel Castro who attended his birthday parties.
When interviewed in 2005 by an American newscaster, he stated that he was content to live in Cuba and that he regarded Castro as a father. In 2008 Elian joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba and later went to military school.
Eleven years after the incident, the case remains a symbol of the struggle between communism and democracy, family and freedom. In both Elian’s home town of Cardenas, Cuba and his short-term home in Miami, museums proclaim contrary interpretations of the touching saga.

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Return from Elian Gonzalez to Cuban government