It’s hard to believe it was 13 years ago that six-year-old Elian Gonzalez was caught in the middle of a highly-politicized custody battle between his relatives in Miami and his father in Cuba. His mother, step-father and eight others drowned when their overcrowded boat smuggling them out of Cuba capsized. Elian and two others were rescued at sea on Thanksgiving Day 1999, clinging to an inner-tube. That’s when the legal fights began. I spent several days following the quickly-developing story from Miami.
Thousands of people marched through the streets of Miami, but the whole thing ended when INS agents raided snatched him in an early morning raid and returned him to his father, who was waiting in Washington, DC.
In June of 2000, Elian Gonzalez returned to Cuba to live with his father, Juan Miguel.
Today, Elian is 19-years-old and stays out of the spotlight. He’s a freshman in college and lives in the fishing village of Cardenas, Cuba. His father was elected to parliament.
“Flashback Friday” on Jansing & Co. –a meander down memory lane of stories I’ve covered over the years and that may just spark some memories of your own. My team has worked hard scouring our archives and we hope you like them. Tweet me at @jansingco and let us know what you think!
Chris Jansing