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.
This sounds like the propoganda that is fed by the Democratic Party and John Kerry's crazies!!! Elian was NOT returned to his father. He was returned to the GOVERNMENT that CONTROLS his father. The father is a puppet, and so is Elian. Sheeeeesh!!
Actually, the CAA was signed into law in 1966.
Luis, don't you thnk the big question about the future of Cuba is what happens after Castro is gone?
You would be too if you washed up on some Florida shore - no?
BTW, most Gulf-soaked immigration documents really suck after you've been out at sea - without a boat...
My husband escaped Cuba when he was nineteen years old. His father said "Go to America where you can live free". He never saw his mother or father again - they died in Cuba. When he saw what Clinton and Reno did to Elian he was devastated and horrified. Well poor Elian got President Bush elected. We recently had a town-wide garage sale and we set up. Some ladies asked my husband, because he has a slight accent, where he came from. He said Cuba. One said something about Cuba's free medical care and how great it was. He said "Why are so many Cubans risking sharks and what have you to get to America and I don't see ANY Americans risking their lives to get to Cuba for free medical care. The woman did think about it answered "Yes, that's something to consider". My husband and I are stunned about some American's ignorance about dictators.
OH my.....this photo is breaking my heart!! God be with this precious boy!!!!!!!
You have to wonder how having an interview with Dateline is consistent with this "avoid the limelight" approach.
Luis,
I just know in my heart that dear Elian can not FORGET those arms that were holding him so dearly and lovingly in that photo, as the authorities were literally PRYING him away. I pray that someday, a miracle will happen, and once again he will know the love of the American family.
So you approve of this as method of entering America?
Pure evil.
The US has a history of accepting TRUE refugees.
My hope: Castro will assign Juan Miguel as his successor and Elian will lead a Democratic revolution in Cuba and replace his father as the freely elected first President of a free Cuba!
If that's true, then you surely agree that Elian's father should have the liberty to have custody of his son? Especially considering Elian's mother is dead??
So why wasn't Elian's Father willing to go through the Court System, instead of having Reno kidnap Elian, against all US laws?
Because he wasn't a citizen? And as his father, he shouldn't have to anyway?
The definition of a refugee by the State Department is: “A refugee is a person who is outside his/her country and is unable to return to that country because of well-founded fear that she/he will be persecuted because of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group. This definition excludes persons displaced by natural disasters or persons who, although displaced, have not crossed an international border. Also excluded are persons commonly known as ‘economic migrants,’ whose primary reason for flight has been a desire for personal betterment rather than persecution per se.”
The Cuban Adjustment Act was enacted in 1966, at the time when citizens from socialists countries who were persecuted were considered to be political refugees and were granted asylum.
And just what press would that be? Is he suggesting the Cuba has a free press? It's all bull-o-ny
Elian was born out of wedlock. A biological father has no automatic right to custody unless he is married to the mother. He must be awarded custody via a judicial process.
Do you agree or disagree with this point?
I don't agree that it's correct. And even if it was, I wouldn't agree that a father has no rights to his children if he wasn't married to the now dead mother.
Cuba isn't the USA.
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