Elian Gonzalez at 21. Recalling the 1999 dramatic, Cuban-American showdown over one small boy

Relations between the United States and Cuba have had several dramatic highs since the revolution of 1959:  the missile crisis, the Bay of Pigs -- and the saga of six year old Elian Gonzalez, who became a political pawn between the Cuban-American community in Florida and the U. S. government, as well as between factions of Elian's divided family.

The fight over Elian's custody became emblematic of the fight between Cuban-American exiles in Miami and what they regarded as repressive governments, both in Cuba and now in the United States.   There was even a movement from right-wing U.S. politicians to try to have congress pass a law bestowing U. S. citizenship on Elian so he could stay here.

Here's a summary of the situation:    In November 1999, Elian's mother brought him along as she and 12 other Cubans tried to flee for asylum in the U.S. in a small aluminum boat with a faulty engine, unsuited for the journey.   Her estranged husband, Elian's father, stayed in Cuba.   The engine failed, the boat sank, and only Elian and two others survived.  They were rescued and brought to the U.S.    Elian's mother drowned.

The U.S. Immigration Service released Elian to his paternal great-uncle who lived in Miami.   And thus began a seven month-long legal battle, front page news stories, political posturing, a dramatic middle of the night raid by armed agents personally ordered by Attorney General Janet Reno, and an ultimate decision by the U. S. Court of Appeals that the Miami relatives did not have standing to apply for asylum for Elian and that he must be returned to the custody of his Cuban father.

Elian's father was flown to the U.S. for a reunion with his son at Andrews Air Force Base;  but the Miami relatives still tried to block his leaving the country by insisting that he could not leave until he had had an asylum hearing.   After appeals and a refusal of the Supreme Court to intervene, the U. S. Circuit Court decision prevailed:    Elian's father was his rightful  custodian and thus only he could apply for asylum for his son.   Thus in May 2000, it was finally resolved and Elian and his father returned to Cuba to a hero's welcome.

It was even regarded by many as a triumph of the Communist country over the United States, and a picture was released showing young Elian in the Youth Pioneer uniform of Cuba's communist youth league.   In addition to the family loss, the anti-Castro, anti-Communist relatives in Miami, remained convinced that wrong had been done, that Castro took their property and their freedom in Cuba;  and now he had taken their child.  The volatile issue still reverberates politically as a rallying cry among the older Cuban-American community in Florida.

On the other hand, one could say that this was a good example of democracy and respect for human rights prevailing and that it was the values of the U. S. democracy that returned Elian to his rightful guardian, his own father.    If the situation were reversed, would the Castro regime have returned Elian to an American father in the U.S.?  And wouldn't we have thought they should, even if he had relatives in Cuba that wanted to keep him there?

That is a point that is rarely mentioned in the debate about what happened in 1999, although our Department of Justice did stick to the principles of our constitution and bill of rights, even as it applied to a foreign national -- and a minor at that.

It was one of the top media stories -- front page and lead-off story on nightly TV from November 1999 to May of 2000.    Most dramatic of all was the pre-dawn, Easter Eve raid on the Miami relatives' home to forcibly extract Elian from their claim on him and return him to his father.

President Obama's new opening to Cuba made me think about Elian's story and wonder what has happened to him.   He is now 21 years old.    He has kept a low profile, mostly staying out of the news.   CNN did a story on him one year ago, when he traveled abroad with a delegation to a meeting in Ecuador of the World Festival of Youth and Students.   He was described as a military cadet studying industrial engineering.   He is quoted as saying he is happy to be in Cuba and expressed his admiration for Fidel Castro who took a personal interest in him and visited him every year on his birthday.


Ralph