Elian Gonzalez: 10 Years Later

The story of Elian Gonzalez still raises tempers in Miami. Talk to anyone in Miami's vibrant Cuban ex-pat community and you will hear people make passionate pleas on why returning 6-year-old Elian to his native country was not only the wrong thing to do, but it went against the dying wish of the boy's own mother. Ten years later, the worst nightmare of those who struggled to keep Elian Gonzalez in the United States, appears to be coming true.

Elian Gonzalez arrived in the United States in late 1999. He was one of only three survivors (11 others died) in his group to make it to the promised land of Florida. A trip so many others have died trying to make. The US Coast Guard brought them onto land (fulfilling, some say, the requirements laid out in the "Wet Foot, Dry Foot" policy) instead of immediately returning them to Cuba.

The Elian Gonzalez issue became one of state's rights, immigration laws and international politics. Florida lawmakers defied Federal demands that the boy must be returned to Cuba to live with his father. Elian was carted in front of politicians, television cameras and even taken to Disney World. US Attorney (and Florida resident) Janet Reno made the final call: Elian had to go home.

The world watched, some in horror, as SWAT team members physically removed Elian Gonzalez from his relatives' home in Miami. The SWAT team employed pepper spray and mace. The INS raid was a highly polarizing event in American History.

Once Elian Gonzalez was reunited with his father in Cuba, he stayed out of the international spotlight for quite some time. On this 10-year anniversary of his ordeal, he is speaking as a symbol of Cuban national pride, and a spokesperson and supporter of Cuba's communist government. He is in military school in Cuba, has made several appearances with high ranking government officials and is being groomed for a life in politics. Some speculate he will eventually succeed the line of communist officials that began with Fidel Castro and continue today with Castro's brother Raul. Even Elian's father was elected to Parliament shortly after Elian's return to Cuba, and he continues to serve in the government of Cuba,

Today, Elian Gonzalez is being quoted in newspapers around the world, saying he holds no grudge against his Miami relatives for trying to keep him in the United States. He says he's happy living in Cuba. But it's hard to know how much of what he says is being coached by communist leadership in Cuba. It is a certainty that as soon as young Elian was declared a national hero upon his return to Cuba that he began being groomed for politics. Cuba's Communist youth newspaper, Jeventud Rebelde, reports today that Elian Gonzalez is attending "Camilo Cienfuegos military school, where he is preparing to be a future officer of the Revolutionary Armed Forces".