Posted on 08/01/2004 2:57:57 PM PDT by Libloather
4 years after return to Cuba, Elian a normal schoolboy
BY MAKI BECKER
New York Daily News
Posted on Sat, Jul. 31, 2004
NEW YORK - (KRT) - Elian Gonzalez, now 10, hits the books in Cardenas, Cuba, where he lives with his father.
Four years after little Elian Gonzalez was plucked from the seas off Florida's coast and sparked an international custody battle, the young boy is leading a sheltered and almost normal life back in Cuba.
Elian lives with his father in their hometown of Cardenas and he still sports the same impish grin that captivated the world back in 2000.
In an interview with NBC's "Dateline" to air Sunday, Elian's father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, says he has generally kept Elian out of the limelight, even moving to a secret location in town to avoid the press.
"The media (in Miami) intimidated him, pressured him most of all," Gonzalez said in his first interview in three years. "It totally overwhelmed him."
As Elian's American relatives fought to keep him in the U.S. and his father sought to take him back to Cuba, hundreds of reporters camped out outside their Miami home, recording every movement of the photogenic little boy.
The custody clash even led to a war of words between Cuban dictator Fidel Castro and the boy's fiercely anti-Castro American relatives.
The stalemate ended dramatically as heavily armed federal officers stormed the house in the middle of the night, snatched the terrified boy and took him into protective custody.
Elian still grieves for his mother who drowned when their boat capsized on its way to Florida, Gonzalez said, but he has adjusted to life well.
"I can truly say that since his return, my son has never had to see a psychologist, or anyone else," Gonzalez told "Dateline NBC."
Elian is learning karate and has two girlfriends, Gonzalez reports.
I can only assume Janet Reno isn't one of 'em and the karate will come in handy if they meet again...
Normal, except for the fact that he lives in a jail.
Elian ping
Pathetic that the Daily News would print this crap.
This is beyond sick.
That may be true, but what's definately and without a doubt true, is that he lives with his father.
This is a HUGE LIE!!!
I have seen numerous photos of Castro with Elian, using him for propaganda purposes.
Cuban Presdent Fidel Castro meets with Cuban boy Elian Gonzales, left and Yani his younger brother at the end of his speech at the 51th anniversary of the Moncada attack, Monday july 26,2004 in Santa Clara, East of Cuba. (AP photo/Cristobal Herrera)
Clearly, Clinton and Reno didn't want that kind of competition on the dating scene.
I'm glad he isn't here. His home is in Cuba with his father and even though it's horrible there, it's where he belongs. Two girlfriends? And they probably know and don't care? I must say, that's alot better than over here hehe. Well, he's also 10. I think I'm gonna watch the Dateline tonight.
Cuban children, especially those who live outside of Havana, do NOT dress as well as he is dressed.
Amazing how so many in the press think Cuba is some kind of island paradise.
The place is a hellhole (if you have to live there full time).
Isn't it sick that a child was returned to his father. That's the problem with America today. Best to keep the fathers out, except for child support payments.
Yeah, he hadn't seen his disinterested dad for years until he returned to Cuba.
Would you have thrown a child oback over the Berlin Wall, after his mother was shot trying to escape?
Father?
More like a sperm donor, who hadn't seen his son in years.
Elian & Cuba PING
That's bull
Would you send a kid back to an abusive home? Why would you send one back to live in stalinism?
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