Posted on 02/07/2023 4:11:35 PM PST by Nextrush
Gonzalez, who became the center of an international custody battle at 5 years old, was nominated Sunday to Cuba's National Assembly.
Elian Gonzalez, the Cuban national whose precarious boyhood arrival in the U.S. in 1999 prompted a fierce international custody battle, is set to become a lawmaker. Gonzalez was nominated by his local municipal assembly on Sunday to serve in Cuba's National Assembly...
Gonzlaez was en route to Florida with his mother when their boat capsized on Thanksgiving 1999 and she and other migrants drowned. The boy's fate thereafter became a flashpoint in U.S.-Cuba relations.
His father, a waiter named Juan Miguel who had remained in Cuba, famously fought for his son's return. Distant relatives in Miami, however launched a legal battle to keep the boy in the U.S.--and feared Gonzalez would become a political pawn of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.
U.S. immigration officials eventually decided to place Gonzalez in the custody of his father, which the boy's family refused to accept. A nighttime raid in April 2000 saw federal agents storm the house where Gonzalez was staying, spurring protests and counter-demonstrations.
Gonzalez was flown home to Cuba after the Supreme Court rejected the effort to keep him in the U.S. The island nation celebrated the return of Gonzalez, who later said the government bodyguards ordered to protect him had become some of his closest friends.
Castro himself was a guest of honor at Gonzalez's seventh birthday back home. In 2013, Gonzalez told state-run media that the Cuban leader was "like a ship that knew to take his crew on the right path". He would later profess that Castro had become a father figure for him, and held back tears when the bearded authoritarian died in 2016...
(Excerpt) Read more at huffpost.com ...
Wow, they didn’t just send him to Hell on Earth, they sent him to Hell for eternity.
Craig got off after Judge Berman gave him a more compliant jury.
I remember Elian very well. I had found a private “travel agent” online who said he could get us into Cuba, into a great hotel withe nice rooms and decent food for $450 round trip. Three friends and I decided to take the risk and it worked out beautifully. We did all the tourist things in Havana and a couple of other towns, hired a “guide,” who happened to work in the hotel and his friend with an ancient car.
Extraordinary experience. As I looked out the window on the flight back to Florida, I wondered whether I’d see little boats of those trying to escape. That was the night Elian and his mother were in that boat that sank, killing her and bringing him close enough to shore for someone to rescue him. I was absolutely enraged at that picture of the Clinton jerk with the big gun pointing it at the terrified little boy. He would have had such a different life here.
Of course Fidel did exactly what he did, making him some kind of hero of the “Glorious Revolution”.
I wouldn’t feel too bad for him… in communism leadership has perks. Feel sorry for the people he dictates to. He said I’ll be wined and dined, while they surrender every good thing to him.
Well look on the bright side. The kid had enough to eat a good education and now a career probably similar to a US democrat/commie House rep. Not a bad life.
Poor kid caught a bad break when he was returned to that sh*thole of a place.
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