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Elian Gonzalez Speaks Out On Famous Custody Battle
The person at the center of the world’s most notorious custody battle has broken his silence for the first time. Now 16 years old and a celebrated national hero, Elian Gonzalez tells reporters that he is not angry at the relatives who tried to keep him from being returned to his father in Cuba 10 years ago.
The boy made the comments after Cuban President Raul Castro came out to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his return.
“Even though they didn’t help me in every way possible, they didn’t help me move forward, they are still my own family,” Gonzalez said of his South Florida relatives, speaking in a shy, almost timid voice.
“I don’t have anger for them,” he said. “It’s only that it wasn’t the best effort possible, and thanks to a large part of the American public, and our public, today I’m with my father and I feel happy here.”
In 1999, a fisherman off the coast of Florida found Gonzalez floating on an innertube on Thanksgiving day. His mother and several others had fled Cuba in a boat, which capsized and killed everyone but Elian.
The boy’s Miami relatives fought for his custody while Cuban President Fidel Castro and the boy’s father, who was separated from his mother, demanded that Elian Gonzalez be returned.
U.S. Immigration got involved and months after he was found, agents stormed into his Miami relatives home — a scene that was captured on camera in the famous photo above.
Two months after that, the boy was returned to Cuba and every year he is feted in parades and speeches there. His father was elected to parliament. And Elian plans on becoming a military officer.
He says he has no regrets about being the center of the controversy and is happy to have been returned and raised in his homeland and raised by his father.
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0 Comments
[...] Elian Gonzalez Speaks Out [...]
How to Soothe Your Baby | Strollerderby commented on Jul 02 10 at 5:17 pm[...] where is he now? Well if you believe the media reports (try here or here) he’s happy at home in Cuba. [...]
Our history: Coast Guard rescues Elian Gonzalez today in 1999 | ryanerickson.com commented on Nov 25 10 at 9:38 pmbob commented on Jul 02 10 at 9:16 amWhat’s to regret? His Miami relatives made Elian and his father famous, and that has clearly benefited them greatly.
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