Cuba's Elian Gonzalez, former castaway, wants to visit US

[alp227]

Source: AP

HAVANA (AP) — Elian Gonzalez, who spent months with his Florida relatives as a Cuban child at the center of an international custody dispute, said in an interview broadcast Monday that he'd like to return to the United States for a visit.

Now 21, Gonzalez told ABC News in an interview that if he could visit anywhere, it would be the U.S.

Gonzalez thanked the American people for the love they showed him during the custody battle 16 years ago, and said he would like to go back "to give my love to the American people."

He said he'd like to see a baseball game, visit Washington museums and talk to Americans.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/a8564accc5c64108b4a05796f6cb2e26/cubas-elian-gonzalez-former-castaway-wants-visit-us

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Link to ABC interview

[Cooley Hurd]

1. "Now 21.."

Damn!!!!!

[Dr Hobbitstein]

2. I know...

It doesn't seem like that long, but it was...

[monmouth4]

3. This has all come about with the great "thaw." He is quite close with Fidel and this is helpful..n/

[dballance]

4. I think that is great. I lived in Miami at the time of him.

I will stand by my opinion that he should have been returned to his father.

I bet there are lot of people in Cuba who wish to visit the US now that things are thawing.

It is clear that Elian has family in Miami who wish to see him. I'm quite certain there are far less famous people who would also like to see their relatives.

[davidpdx]

5. Funny the article doesn't recount how he lambasted the US recently

Now he wants to come visit. No thanks!

[Reter]

6. I cut him some slack, he was brainwashed

If only he had been allowed to stay.

[davidpdx]

8. I don't

Many on DU would argue that we are the ones that are brainwashed.

I'm sure he and his family greatly benefited from his tirade about the US.

[Sheldon Cooper]

9. You think he should have been kept in America, against the wishes of his father?

[davidpdx]

16. I didn't say that

I was talking about the anti-America rant he gave just awhile back. Maybe you missed that.

[Sheldon Cooper]

19. I wasn't talking to you.

Maybe you missed that.

[Sheldon Cooper]

11. Oh BFD. He was a kid when he said that stuff.

And anyway, isn't America the home of free speech? We're supposed to keep him out because he hurt our little feelings? Ridiculous.

[treestar]

15. He would have to get a visa like anyone else

Come to think of it, maybe Cubans can't. There's no US embassy. Or, it would logically follow.

[davidpdx]

17. No, his comments were more recent than that

So I'm suppose to believe he hates us and now he wants to come visit. Give me a break. You are the one who is ridiculous.

[Sheldon Cooper]

20. Why do you care so much about keeping him out?

Seriously - what's the big deal if he badmouthed the Almighty Unites States of America? We are the land of the free and the home of the brave and we can take a bit of criticism from a young Cuban kid. But by all means, continue to guard the border.

[Judi Lynn]

12. Why not break down and spend some time researching US history regarding Cuba. n/t

[davidpdx]

18. I'm not talking about US/Cuba relations

I'm referring to someone who spewed anti-US rhetoric and then expects us to believe everything is all fine and dandy now.

[Judi Lynn]

21. Cuba has every reason under the sun to "spew," and it's not "anti-American" unless you support

what the US government has done to the masses of people in Cuba since the 1800's.

That's why I maintain you would benefit from doing your homework on the history of US actions against the Cuban people.

If Fulgencio Batista and his death squads were your kind of Cuban, you might not feel learning the truth is important.

[Democat]

23. DU posters lambast the US every day

Should they be banned from the US?

[freshwest]

7. What a nice young man. Hope he gets to visit soon. So many good things now.

Thanks, Obama!

[Paladin]

10. Right-wing "patriots" better get a new batch of U.S. flags ready to burn in the streets. (nt)

[Judi Lynn]

13. Images of the adult Elian Gonzalez:

[center]



Ellian Gonzalez

- click for photo -

http://static2.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.2226793.1431972139!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/article_635/abc-elian-gonzalez-03-jc-150518.jpg



Elian Gonzalez poses for a selfie with his fiance Ilianet Escano.





Elian with his father, step-mother, 3 brothers, and fiancé.


[font size=1]
Fifteen years after he made headlines, Elian Gonzalez is a regular Cuban college student.
Credit: C.M. Guerrero/El Nuevo Herald/MCT/Getty Images; REUTERS /STRINGER /LANDOV [/font][/center]

[treestar]

14. I guess he'll always have a platform

Due to something that happened to happen to him and his mother. 15 minutes of fame that can be revisited at any point in a lifetime.

[Judi Lynn]

22. Having seen all those people drown right in front of him was quite the price to pay for the boy,

not to mention the traumatizing time floating alone, lashed to the inner tube by his mother before she drowned before his eyes, with no land in sight, then living among strangers for ages while his father was kept away from him, as well as all those he had known from infancy, all his cousins, aunts, uncles, 4 grandparents, half-brother, stepmother, etc.

Quite the price to pay for the 15 minutes of fame. I'll just bet he would give it all back in the blink of an eye to have it all undone, and all the people returned to life.

[Judi Lynn]

24. Elián González speaks out: I would visit U.S. one day; relatives should apologize

May 18, 2015

Elián González speaks out: I would visit U.S. one day; relatives should apologize

~ snip ~

González also sounded a conciliatory note: “For my family it has always been, we always have the desire to say to the American people, to say to each household our gratitude, appreciation and love that we have. Perhaps one day we could pay a visit to the United States. I could personally thank those people who helped us, who were there by our side.”

He even said he would he would be willing to visit his Miami relatives if they admit they were wrong to try to keep him in the United States.

~ snip ~

Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado isn’t so sure the community would welcome Elián with open arms. Regalado was a radio journalist in 2000, broadcasting live from NW Second Street day after day as the custody saga unfolded.

“I hope he doesn’t come. It would be very polarizing. People who were trying to save him were beaten by police; some who went to bat for him ended up in jail. People lost their jobs who stayed in front of the house praying for him,” Regalado said. “We don’t need this kind of drama in Miami.”

April 22, 2000, the day federal agents removed Elián from his Miami relatives’ home at gunpoint and in a haze of pepper spray, is seared in many Miamians’ memories. Some in the crowd who had gathered outside the home to defend the boy climbed over police barricades to try to stop the agents and threw rocks and garbage cans, resulting in arrests.

~ snip ~

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/cuba/article21274494.html#storylink=cpy