U.S.-Cuban History Revisited!!
Tonight -- Thursday, August 24th, 2017 -- CNN will air a highly publicized documentary-movie entitled: "Elian: A Boy Caught Between Two Worlds." It's the deeply researched saga of Elian Gonzalez, the 6-year-old Cuban boy who became the centerpiece of a U.S.-Cuban tug-of-war in 1999. As today, in 1999 Cuban-American extremists were in control of Miami and backed by a litany of long and lingering United States Laws that include strong financial and residence incentives for Cubans to defect to Miami. Elian's mother Elizabeth and ten others drowned in the Florida Straits trying to reach U. S. soil where, unlike all other would-be immigrants, they would be home-free the moment their front-foot touched U. S. soil. Elian, now 23-years-old, survived the tragedy as a 6-year-old in 1999 when he washed ashore on an inner-tube. He ended up in the hands of counter-revolutionary Cubans in Miami but both Elian's father Juan Miguel Gonzalez and Fidel Castro wanted him back!!!
All the leading politicians in Miami and in the U. S. Congress in 1999 were Counter Revolutionary Cuban-American extremists. That, of course, included the Havana-born Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen who has been in the U. S. Congress since 1989 when Jeb Bush was her Campaign Manager, starting a steady stream of Cuban Counter-Revolutionaries tightly connected to the Bush dynasty who have easily ended up in the U. S. Congress because, apparently, it is not politically correct for moderate Cubans to get elected although most Cuban-Americans even in Miami favor normal relations with Cuba. So the photo above in 1999 shows 6-year-old Elian in the arms of a smiling and very proud Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Surely she assumed, as did all the other rich and powerful Cuban exiles in Miami, that they reserved the right to dictate America's Cuban policies, which in this case revolved around making sure "Fidel would never see the day Elian would return to Cuba." However, for one of the few times in American history since 1959, the Clinton administration in 1999 challenged the normally unchallenged Cubans in Miami and in the U. S. Congress. Thus, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen's hold on little Elian Gonzalez was amazingly challenged!!
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In the annals of Cuba, America, and the world, the photo above is emblazoned forever as a part of history. As the world watched the gripping saga of the United States government finally opposing Cuban-American extremists in Miami, federal officers rescued the frightened, traumatized 6-year-old Elian from a Miami closet.
Elian at age 6 in Miami.
Elian back in Cuba with Fidel Castro.
Two years ago when Elian was 21, he and his father Juan were interviewed by America's ABC-News. It was the first time Americans had heard the adult Elian.
In that ABC television interview, the 21-year-old Elian was asked what he thought of Fidel Castro. He said, "I am his friend but above all I consider him my father."
In that ABC-TV interview, Elian laughed and his father grinned when he said, "I feel I have forgotten my English skills a bit." Juan, like Elian, idolized Fidel Castro.
As an adult in Cuba and when he has traveled abroad, Elian has repeatedly expressed his worshipful opinion of Fidel Castro. Elian unabashedly cried at a memorial service after the Cuban icon died at age 90 on November 25th, 2016. The quotation above as registered by CNN was made in 2014 and repeated in 2016.
The legend of Elian is eternal.
Elian epitomizes Cuba-U.S. relations.
The famous photo used above on the cover of Newsweek Magazine shows the still traumatized Elian in the loving arms of a female U. S. Marshall seconds after he was rescued from that Miami closet by heavily armed federal Marshalls. The Cuban-American extremists, believing it to be a victory over Castro, vowed that it would not happen and they did not believe the U. S. government would challenge them.
At age 23 in August of 2017, Elian Gonzalez says, "My excellent education and healthcare position me to do what I will do the rest of my life. That is to work and produce on behalf of the Cuban people and the Revolution. I enjoy representing Cuba off the island. One day, if our relations with America improves, I would like to visit the United States to thank some people who helped my father and me back in 1999."
Reviews of the docu-movie "Elian" are excellent. It will debut worldwide on CNN at 10:00 P. M. Eastern Time tonight -- Thursday, August 24th, 2017. It is expected to get high ratings and will be replayed often on CNN. The first replay, in fact, is set for 2:00 A. M. on Friday, August 25th. "Elian" chronicles an epic Cuban-U. S. battle.
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