Elian Gonzalez Not Angry With Miami Relatives, Are You?
Michael Galvis
2010/07/01 19:43:13
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Ten years after being deported from the United States and reunited with his father, Elian Gonzalez says he is happy in Cuba and holds no grudge against his Miami relatives who fought to keep him in the States.
During a state celebration held by President Raul Castro that marked the 10th anniversary of the famous castaway's return to the island, Gonzalez, now 16, said he is grateful to the "large part of the American public" that supported his father during the heated international custody battle.
Concerning his family, Gonzalez had few but heartening words.
"Even though they didn't help me in every way possible, they didn't help me move forward, they are still my own family."
The controversial battle over custody of the then 7-year-old Elian Gonzalez began when his mother drowned in late 1999 while attempting to illegally immigrate with her son and boyfriend, from Cuba to the United States. After Gonzalez was discovered floating in an inner tube Thanksgiving Day 1999 by a fisherman, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) placed him in the custody of extended relatives in Miami, who sought to keep him in the States against the will of his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who had remained in Cuba.
After seven months of heated debates, a federal district court ruled that only Gonzalez's father could petition for asylum on the boy's behalf, and he was returned to his father in June 2000.
Yet, while Gonzalez holds no resentment for his extended relatives, his father admitted that he is still angry "because, at any moment, having the boy there and with me giving them opportunities so they can reunite the family, they let themselves get carried away with other things."
Are you angry with Elian Gonzalez's extended relatives?
During a state celebration held by President Raul Castro that marked the 10th anniversary of the famous castaway's return to the island, Gonzalez, now 16, said he is grateful to the "large part of the American public" that supported his father during the heated international custody battle.
Concerning his family, Gonzalez had few but heartening words.
"Even though they didn't help me in every way possible, they didn't help me move forward, they are still my own family."
The controversial battle over custody of the then 7-year-old Elian Gonzalez began when his mother drowned in late 1999 while attempting to illegally immigrate with her son and boyfriend, from Cuba to the United States. After Gonzalez was discovered floating in an inner tube Thanksgiving Day 1999 by a fisherman, the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) placed him in the custody of extended relatives in Miami, who sought to keep him in the States against the will of his father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, who had remained in Cuba.
After seven months of heated debates, a federal district court ruled that only Gonzalez's father could petition for asylum on the boy's behalf, and he was returned to his father in June 2000.
Yet, while Gonzalez holds no resentment for his extended relatives, his father admitted that he is still angry "because, at any moment, having the boy there and with me giving them opportunities so they can reunite the family, they let themselves get carried away with other things."
Are you angry with Elian Gonzalez's extended relatives?
Except for Castro and his gang who are the new millionaires, the 11 million Cubans have to suffer the exploitation of the omnipotent state, rationed food, lack of housing and the indignity of being second class citizens in their own country.
So no i don't think i can agree with them ever.
The boy was going to be returned to cuba because he was found in the water plus his father was alive in cuba.
The relatives bother me the whole thing was a circus.
By imposing and maintaining their blockade and worse, they have ensured the Castros remained in power, and the island's economy and political freedoms have been depressed.