Cuba Marks 10th Anniversary of Elian
Gonzalez's Return
HAVANA - Cuba marked on
Sunday the 10th anniversary of the return of
the six-year-old castaway Elian Gonzalez,
who hit headlines in a custody dispute
between anti-Castro groups in Miami, the
U.S. government and the Cuban government.
"The pain of the tragedy is left behind" and
Elian, 16, lives now "as happy as any other
Cuban teenager, with his family and
brothers," the official daily Juventud
Rebelde said Sunday.
"A decade after being the temporal plaything
of the enemies of the Revolution, Elian can
be seen wearing his olive green uniform as a
student of the military high school Camilo
Cienfuegos, where he is being trained as a
future officer of the Cuban Revolutionary
Armed Forces," it added.
Elian's odyssey began on Nov. 22, 1999, when
his mother, Elizabeth Brotons, and another
11 relatives attempted to illegally leave
Cuba for the United States.
Their boat sank few miles away from Florida.
Elizabeth and her 11 relatives got drowned,
but little Elian was rescued by two
fishermen.
After being delivered to his relatives in
Miami, the child became the center of a
custody dispute between his relatives in the
U.S. city and his father, Juan Miguel
Gonzalez, who demanded the return of the
child to Cuba, with the support of then
Cuban President Fidel Castro.
For seven months, the Cuban government urged
the return of Elian, while most of the
conservative Cuban exiles in Miami demanded
political asylum for the kid.
Janet Reno, attorney general in the Clinton
administration, insisted that the child
should be with his father. The U.S.
authorities had to use force to take Elian
from his relatives in Miami who refused to
surrender.
Finally, on June 28, 2000, Elian landed at
Havana airport in his father's arms.
Elian Gonzalez then became a symbol of the
Cuban Revolution. Fidel Castro used to
attend Elian's every birthday until he
retired from public life in 2006 due to
health problems.
The boy's return is celebrated annually with
parades in his hometown of Cardenas, 150 km
east of Havana.
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