Speaker 1: In mid January two thousand, Alien's father, Emiel, gave an
Speaker 1: interview to ABC's Nightline. It had been nearly two months
Speaker 1: since he had been separated from Elian.
Speaker 2: It has been suggested in some quarters, and I'm going
Speaker 2: to give you the opportunity to respond that the reason
Speaker 2: you do not come to Miami is because the Cuban
Speaker 2: government is afraid that once you get to Miami you
Speaker 2: will defect. How do you respond to that?
Speaker 1: Chris Wallace interviewed him with a life translator. Ask Emiel
Speaker 1: answered his questions.
Speaker 3: Who said that?
Speaker 4: Who said that? I think I have been extremely clear
Speaker 4: clear people think, or some people think that I am
Speaker 4: under pressure and sometimes what I would like to do
Speaker 4: is go down there with a rifle. I don't know
Speaker 4: to get rid of How many people.
Speaker 5: Are you serious about that, sir?
Speaker 2: That's obviously a very inflammatory remark.
Speaker 4: And what about isn't it inflammatory what they are doing
Speaker 4: with my son?
Speaker 1: This moment was raw and revealed Juamiel's rage at being
Speaker 1: kept from his son, But in the interview Chris Wallace
Speaker 1: was hinting at something else that Framielle was being pressured
Speaker 1: by the Cuban government to bring Ellang back to Cuba
Speaker 1: to not affect to Miami that Framielle did not really
Speaker 1: mean the things he was saying. This is Kennoc Coffee,
Speaker 1: one of the attorneys for Alian's Miami relatives.
Speaker 6: If you are living in Cuba, you're living in a
Speaker 6: totalitarian regime where your movements are watched, your actions are controlled,
Speaker 6: and you simply are not at liberty to advocate for
Speaker 6: your child's life and a democratic society.
Speaker 1: But Miuel had been a Philista rogastro for a long time.
Speaker 1: He was part of the Cuban Communist Party, and he
Speaker 1: used this connection after Elian was taken in by his
Speaker 1: Miami relatives to knock on all the right doors until
Speaker 1: he got a meeting with Fidel Castro himself to ask
Speaker 1: for the government's help to get Elan back. He would
Speaker 1: later say in an interview with Cuban Press that Castro
Speaker 1: told him in their first meeting he could leave Cuba
Speaker 1: if he wanted.
Speaker 7: So la.
Speaker 1: Miami, and he told Castro no, he wanted to be
Speaker 1: reunited with Elean in Cuba. Before that, the Miami family
Speaker 1: had been hopeful. They thought this could be a chance
Speaker 1: for their family to reunite in the United States. In
Speaker 1: front of news cameras. The Miami family said Jamiel had
Speaker 1: told them something different than what he told Del Castro.
Speaker 8: My uncle called Jamiel to let him know his son
Speaker 8: was okay and that we were taking care of him,
Speaker 8: and his answer was, quote, take care of him until
Speaker 8: I can go, meaning going to the United States.
Speaker 1: After the Nightline interview aired, Jamiel's uncle, Lascero responded, saying
Speaker 1: something the family had said from the beginning. We will
Speaker 1: give your song to you once you come to the
Speaker 1: United States, you know, deary, And he continued, I'm only
Speaker 1: taking care of the boy and giving him the best
Speaker 1: I can because my family in Cuba asked me to
Speaker 1: care for him.
Speaker 9: Also, Ramo Mdia, Yeah, my familia, miss Angry.
Speaker 1: Here's my family, my blood, Lacearo said in a matter
Speaker 1: of fact tone. But as time passed, when Miel started
Speaker 1: using a different term than caring for Alian, one that
Speaker 1: echo Fidel Castro saying the Miami relatives had actually kidnapped Elian,
Speaker 1: my familiar. Pamiel said, the Miami family stopped letting him
Speaker 1: speak with Elian, so they disputed that Alien's Iami relatives
Speaker 1: and other Cuban Americans believed Castro cast a shadow over
Speaker 1: Juamiel casting a shadow on a sombra?
Speaker 10: Did that?
Speaker 1: Sora and Penny later meres and this is Chess Peace.
Speaker 1: The Lian Gonzalez Story a production of Futura Studios in
Speaker 1: partnership with Iheartsmichael Turda podcast network. After Ellen was found
Speaker 1: at sea, many were watching je Miel, analyzing him, seeing
Speaker 1: if it sounded like a real father, wondering did he
Speaker 1: really want to stay in Cuba or not?
Speaker 11: If he really wanted to come to the United States.
Speaker 4: I think the Cuban government would have done everything they
Speaker 4: could discourage him from going.
Speaker 11: There were questions about whether the father of Elian was
Speaker 11: truly free, but how can we second guess his own
Speaker 11: views and love for soon?
Speaker 12: The wan Miguel I interviewed was extremely stressed. You could
Speaker 12: see the pressure, the anxiety, the fear. I don't really
Speaker 12: think his life was his own. After Ellen became the
Speaker 12: biggest headline.
Speaker 1: When it comes to Cuba, the question is always about freedom.
Speaker 1: If you have free will, I wanted to find out
Speaker 1: for myself. I wanted to ask Emiel and Elean what
Speaker 1: they truly wanted, But to do so I would have
Speaker 1: to return to Cuba for the first time in a decade,
Speaker 1: the first time ever as a journalist.
Speaker 10: I was nervous and excited.
Speaker 1: We submitted our project to the Cuban government Press office,
Speaker 1: and I applied for a journalist visa to enter the
Speaker 1: country where I was born. In Cuba, the government controls
Speaker 1: the media, and organizations like Reporters Without Borders have documented
Speaker 1: arbitrary detentions, harassment, illegal rates against Cuban journalists living on
Speaker 1: the island whose coverers doesn't align with the Cuban Communist Party.
Speaker 1: FOREI in journalists are accredited selectively, those whose work is
Speaker 1: considered too negative or critical are expelled. So, according to
Speaker 1: Reporters Without Borders quote, Cuba remains the worst country for
Speaker 1: press freedom in Latin America. After submitting the project, Cuba's
Speaker 1: office in New York asked us for a meeting to
Speaker 1: get a better idea about our work and the project.
Speaker 13: I'm working from Grand Central Station.
Speaker 1: Cheer let me see on that, senior producer Nicole Rothwell.
Speaker 1: This past summer, we met up in midtown Manhattan on
Speaker 1: a hot and humid day.
Speaker 14: So basically we are going to be here because even
Speaker 14: before asking Eliam for an interview, we need to ask
Speaker 14: a government for her mission, which is very Talian about
Speaker 14: Cuba and how Cuba works.
Speaker 1: When you walk into the office, you are met with
Speaker 1: giant black and white portraits of.
Speaker 10: Idel Castro on the walls.
Speaker 1: We were invited into a meeting room with comfy couches
Speaker 1: and shares. The Cuban government official we spoke with offered
Speaker 1: us a cafecito and.
Speaker 10: We gave our pitch, shared who we were.
Speaker 1: And that we believed to tell the liand story, we
Speaker 1: needed to speak with Cuban's in Cuba, and they seem
Speaker 1: to agree. So we waited and we started trying to.
Speaker 10: Reach sources in Cuba.
Speaker 1: That's when we got some exciting news from a fixer
Speaker 1: in Cuba that Elian and his father Juamiel were open
Speaker 1: to an interview with us. All we needed now was
Speaker 1: our visa approval, so we kept waiting. Back to two thousand,
Speaker 1: a week after Juan Miel's Nightline interview, an announcement was
Speaker 1: made that captivated the world.
Speaker 5: Today, the two grandmothers of Ilian Gonzalez flew from Havana
Speaker 5: to New York with a delegation from the National Council
Speaker 5: of Churches to say, without a moment's hesitation that they
Speaker 5: want to take Ilian home.
Speaker 1: Just after landing in New York, the grandmothers gave a
Speaker 1: press conference. Traquel Rodriguez, the mother of Elizabeth, Alien's mom,
Speaker 1: spoke first through a translator.
Speaker 11: Is the.
Speaker 15: La mam liang.
Speaker 4: Many people say that was the will of the mother.
Speaker 16: Denoido avlo, that the son will stay here. Lang I
Speaker 16: talked for her because her very much. Okay sarva, I
Speaker 16: know how she thinks and how they behave Yeah, zebasoue
Speaker 16: okay then unga posso ramulento ilam and Asara.
Speaker 1: The grandma alleged that her daughter only came to the
Speaker 1: US because her partner, Rafa, was violent and coerced her
Speaker 1: to get on the boat. Alien's grandma pleaded to be
Speaker 1: able to take him back with them to Cuba so
Speaker 1: her daughter could rest in peace.
Speaker 16: Eole pidouelo alo.
Speaker 17: Interested and.
Speaker 3: You want to help us all about for kil Nino.
Speaker 16: Aluela paga wela Let's concerin boss.
Speaker 1: Elizabeth's mom told reporters this more than once, and even
Speaker 1: before her daughter's tragic death, she had express worry about
Speaker 1: the relationship. However, some of Elizabeth's friends and one of
Speaker 1: Raffa's former girlfriends denied that he was violent. What we
Speaker 1: do know is there seems to be some cheam around
Speaker 1: Rafa's reputation, but there is the possibility that it was
Speaker 1: pushed as propaganda by the Cuban government. If this were true,
Speaker 1: that Elian's mom came to the US cours by her
Speaker 1: boyfriend and not seeking freedom, it would mean the Miami
Speaker 1: family's entire basis for keeping Elian in the US wasn't valid.
Speaker 10: His mom to risk her life for him.
Speaker 9: To get liberty, and I hope that this country gives
Speaker 9: us the opportunity of knowing what liberty is all about.
Speaker 1: In the US, the grandma's met with Congress members and
Speaker 1: ultimately got a chance to meet with their grandson Elian,
Speaker 1: but just over a week after they landed, they boarded
Speaker 1: a plane back to Cuba without him. Before leaving the US,
Speaker 1: Elian's paternal grandmother, Mariella, made a final plea to the public, saying,
Speaker 1: Elian will never be happy here and.
Speaker 15: He will never be happy.
Speaker 8: Because he grew up in Cua and Cuba.
Speaker 13: He's a Cuban boy.
Speaker 18: He has a father Squadro, he has four grandpa familia,
Speaker 18: and he has an entire family back there.
Speaker 1: The Grandma's returned to Cuba to a hero's welcome of
Speaker 1: thousands of Cubans in the street. They might have been
Speaker 1: empty handed, but it looked like a victory for the
Speaker 1: Cuban side. Appoll after their visit had two thirds of
Speaker 1: the US siding with them Elian should go back to his.
Speaker 10: Father in Cuba.
Speaker 1: A month after the Grandma's left the United States, the
Speaker 1: Senate held an unusual congressional hearing on Cuba inspired by
Speaker 1: the Elian case. As the Miami family seemed to be
Speaker 1: losing in the courts, they hoped they could win over
Speaker 1: the public and Congress. Mary Lacey's testified alongside Alina Fernandez,
Speaker 1: Fidel Castro's own a strange daughter. There is no recording
Speaker 1: of this hearing, but in her wading statement, Mary Lacey
Speaker 1: insisted that ju Miguel was hiding his true feelings.
Speaker 10: Here is part of what she said to Congress.
Speaker 18: He knows that his son is in a country of
Speaker 18: freedom or he is protected, and that is why he
Speaker 18: can sit there and read papers with the pain of
Speaker 18: heart say things that they're telling him to say, but
Speaker 18: he cannot turn around and say otherwise because he knows
Speaker 18: that his wife and his son might be in danger
Speaker 18: or are in danger.
Speaker 1: Mary Lesis is talking here about what in Cuba we
Speaker 1: call Las somra, the shadow. It's the idea that the
Speaker 1: authorities are monitoring your every move, the secret police, the government,
Speaker 1: the spies, that you are always being watched, unmarked, and
Speaker 1: if you defy those authorities, you know there will be consequences.
Speaker 1: The shadow makes sure you always watch.
Speaker 19: What you say.
Speaker 1: It was not the only time Mary Lacey's assured Miel
Speaker 1: that in Miami, in the US, he will be safe.
Speaker 8: I would like to follows to come and take him
Speaker 8: up because I know he's safe and I know that
Speaker 8: I put him in good hands.
Speaker 1: Mary LASiS also told the Senate committee that Jua Miel
Speaker 1: had previously told them he would do anything to make
Speaker 1: it to the US. It was something that others had
Speaker 1: heard too, like Al Fere Cuban American historian.
Speaker 17: I remember hearing, and I don't know if it's true,
Speaker 17: if it's another chease me is that the father had
Speaker 17: either applied to live or tried to leave himself before
Speaker 17: the wholely young thing.
Speaker 1: The rumor was that Juan Miel wanted to come to
Speaker 1: the US, and that he even applied to El Bombo,
Speaker 1: the Bize lottery system, unique for Cubans at the time.
Speaker 1: It was reported that the Ions had no record of
Speaker 1: Juamiel applying, but an internal memo eventually surfaced revealing that
Speaker 1: some Irons officials did believe he applied to Al Bombo,
Speaker 1: and not only that, but that they suspected Juan Miuel
Speaker 1: was being coerced by the Culture Region. But publicly, Jamiel
Speaker 1: never went straight from his message that he would trace
Speaker 1: his son in Cuba.
Speaker 20: The familia.
Speaker 10: Elian's family is in Cuba.
Speaker 14: He said.
Speaker 1: He has free health care and education here. His life
Speaker 1: is here. The Irons interviewed Emiel two times in Cuba,
Speaker 1: even in a so called neutral space, to make sure
Speaker 1: he was fit as a father, and he told them
Speaker 1: Elean was his life quote. I taught him how to swim,
Speaker 1: do karate. He has a part of here, dogs, a
Speaker 1: bicycle and all kinds of toys. When Miuel always taught
Speaker 1: the I n S officials he wanted Elan to return
Speaker 1: immediately to Que Dins recognized that Emuel was likely being
Speaker 1: monitored by the Cuban government tim press, but this didn't
Speaker 1: mean that his request for Elian to be returned was
Speaker 1: not genuine.
Speaker 17: Let's say he wanted the boy to say. Could he
Speaker 17: have said that, I don't think so. I think once
Speaker 17: the Cuban government asked for the boy back, I don't
Speaker 17: think there was any way for the father to have
Speaker 17: said that.
Speaker 21: It's a very kind of Cuban problem in a sense,
Speaker 21: right where in a place where people are expected to
Speaker 21: say certain things, where people clap, even if they don't
Speaker 21: mean it, it's hard to distinguish between what is stated
Speaker 21: publicly and what is thought internally.
Speaker 1: A very Cuban problem, it is hard to know what
Speaker 1: people really wanted in the alien case versus what they
Speaker 1: said they wanted on both sides, and that includes Elian himself.
Speaker 17: The boys family in Miami kept saying, oh, he wants
Speaker 17: to stay.
Speaker 8: I've asked him if he wanted to stay or if
Speaker 8: he wanted to go back, and he told me he
Speaker 8: wanted to stay.
Speaker 17: Even if the boy said that, can you take that
Speaker 17: as a fact When he's a little boy who's being
Speaker 17: given all these presents and he just lost his mother
Speaker 17: and he's becoming attached to his cousin as a mother figure.
Speaker 1: A couple of weeks after our meeting with the Cuban
Speaker 1: Mission in New York, we got news.
Speaker 10: He was not good news.
Speaker 22: Hello, Tim, I just saw the messages that or visa
Speaker 22: was the night and looking at the email, it says,
Speaker 22: I regret to inform you that the visa for Futuro
Speaker 22: Media for the project about Elian Gonzalez in Cuba was
Speaker 22: not approved. You know, no explanation, no avenue for week, consideration,
Speaker 22: not anything. So it's official denied the visa to go
Speaker 22: tomorrow country.
Speaker 10: I felt bad.
Speaker 1: It should not be like that, And then after we
Speaker 1: asked for another meeting to make our case, the Cuban
Speaker 1: mission agreed. We were hopeful this would mean their second chance.
Speaker 1: So the team went back without me.
Speaker 21: And in Midtown Manhattan having a British javou.
Speaker 13: This is gonna be ten number two.
Speaker 1: The next day Nicole and Or executive producer Marlon Bishop called.
Speaker 7: Me, Okay, can you both hear each other?
Speaker 15: Hello?
Speaker 3: Hi?
Speaker 19: So yeah, we wanted to record a call and you
Speaker 19: know about how it went at the Cuban mission.
Speaker 13: Okay.
Speaker 7: He kind of started off as like this speech about
Speaker 7: like US Cuba relations and why they have to be
Speaker 7: very careful diligent about do they approve journalist thesis for
Speaker 7: but and he was just pretty like the rest their
Speaker 7: concerns were.
Speaker 1: Over up anyway, They had done some dging on us,
Speaker 1: and the problem, it turns out, was me.
Speaker 19: So yeah, they left the room for a second and
Speaker 19: he came back with a cell phone and he had
Speaker 19: already pulled up your Twitter with the keyword of Cuba
Speaker 19: and reading through tweets that you've made about Cuba in
Speaker 19: the past, specifically about the protests that were happening.
Speaker 10: They didn't like some tweets, so they denied our visas.
Speaker 13: I was informant to my followers on Twitter that there
Speaker 13: was a protest in Mexico City, mirrowing the protest in Cuba,
Speaker 13: so basically I was doing my reporter job.
Speaker 19: I said the same thing. I said, I think she's just,
Speaker 19: you know, informing people that this is going on, and
Speaker 19: he's like, no, there's other tweets where it's you know,
Speaker 19: it's more of a call to action. Well, I guess
Speaker 19: this one is a little more opinionated. It says from
Speaker 19: July twelve, twenty twenty one, just google the tennessa oil
Speaker 19: no importancy to ninety's most to Kuba Party.
Speaker 10: My tweet said Cuba needs you today.
Speaker 1: It doesn't matter if you don't get what's going on,
Speaker 1: or if you once admired the Custro regime dot dot
Speaker 1: dot Today what matters is that you listen, look, speak.
Speaker 1: I wrote a series of tweets calling for attention to
Speaker 1: the massive protests of July twenty twenty one, when, for
Speaker 1: the first time in decades, thousands of Cubans came out
Speaker 1: to the streets to protest against the Jewan government, protesting
Speaker 1: in a dictatorship at the high risk of spending.
Speaker 10: Years in Yale. It's a big deal. Yes.
Speaker 1: In this particular tweet, I share my opinion. It came
Speaker 1: from a reflection I had from when I was younger
Speaker 1: and less critical of the Cuban government. Back then, I
Speaker 1: felt that the intentions of the Cuban government were good,
Speaker 1: but it was just that our circumstances as a country
Speaker 1: were difficult.
Speaker 10: And I know I'm not alone.
Speaker 1: A lot of people in the world have been moved
Speaker 1: by this idea that Cuba is standing up to the
Speaker 1: US like David versus Goliath. I was hoping to appeal
Speaker 1: to those people outside of the island who once believed
Speaker 1: in Castro's revolution. I wanted them to listen to what
Speaker 1: actual Cubans on the island were saying. Even now, I
Speaker 1: don't regret writing that tweet. As a journalist, I'm always
Speaker 1: very careful with getting involved with my stories, but I'm
Speaker 1: also a human and I felt like remaining side I
Speaker 1: lent in front of those protests was wrong. So when
Speaker 1: we got the rejection, I was not surprised, but I.
Speaker 3: Was hard.
Speaker 13: So basically because I tweeted those things, we are prevented
Speaker 13: from interviewing Alien. That's why he said, Like officially he didn't.
Speaker 19: In those words like you can't interview Alien, as he said,
Speaker 19: you know, I think we're going to have to take
Speaker 19: a pause, but it was clear that he meant that
Speaker 19: this project, you know, wasn't going to be able to
Speaker 19: go forward, that we need to build trust as an
Speaker 19: organization with Cuba.
Speaker 1: One of the reasons I have spent most of my
Speaker 1: career reporting about corruption and injustices in Mexico is because
Speaker 1: I have been prevented from reporting about my own country.
Speaker 1: I believe that journalism makes a country better, or at
Speaker 1: least more aware of its problems and failures. It's not
Speaker 1: the work of journalists to be a mouth peace for
Speaker 1: any government.
Speaker 13: I know my people, you know, I know how they work.
Speaker 13: But at the same time, it is part of the story.
Speaker 13: This is part of why we have been saying that.
Speaker 15: This is the story that goes beyond a Yan and
Speaker 15: goes into what was Fiva twenty five years ago and
Speaker 15: what is Stula today. So twenty five years ago, my
Speaker 15: father was prevented to.
Speaker 13: Be with me, and now I'm prevented.
Speaker 4: To go to my own country.
Speaker 1: Four months after Elean was found at sea, the Miami
Speaker 1: family would get their wish, the possibility of a family reunification.
Speaker 1: Juan Miguel Gonzalez is ready at a moment's notice to
Speaker 1: come to the United States to be reunited with his son.
Speaker 1: This is Gregory Craig, Quamiel's attorney, who had also represented
Speaker 1: President Bill Clinton when he faced Impishma and greg traveled
Speaker 1: to Cuba and met with Viel Castro, who signed off
Speaker 1: on him representing Famiel, and some assumed Castro was footing
Speaker 1: the bill, but what was reported at the time was
Speaker 1: that Amielle's attorney was paid for by a church group's donations.
Speaker 1: After the visit, greg announced Jamiel would be coming to
Speaker 1: the United States.
Speaker 18: He has been ready, willing, and waiting for too many weeks,
Speaker 18: too many months.
Speaker 10: But with a condition.
Speaker 3: He needs only to be told that when he.
Speaker 2: Comes here, he.
Speaker 11: Will in fact be given custody of his son.
Speaker 1: A condition that the Miami family had promised.
Speaker 10: To deliver on.
Speaker 1: In the early hours of April sixth, two thousand, Fidel
Speaker 1: Castro personally saw off Jamiel when he left for the US.
Speaker 1: His wife and their son, who was six months old,
Speaker 1: traveled with him. Their family kissed them goodbye on the
Speaker 1: tarmac before the sun even rose. This means a lot
Speaker 1: to me. April sixth is my birthday. I was turning
Speaker 1: thirteen that year, becoming a teenager. So while Famiel was
Speaker 1: on his way to be reunited with his son with
Speaker 1: Castro's blessing and support, I was still away from my dad,
Speaker 1: separated by the US Cuba policies. Fidel spoke to the
Speaker 1: press as the plane left. He said he had faith
Speaker 1: it would all work out.
Speaker 5: Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome one Michuel Gonzales
Speaker 5: to the United States America.
Speaker 1: Immediately after landing in the United States, Joamiguel gave a
Speaker 1: press conference on the tarmac alongside his lawyer, his wife
Speaker 1: and newborn.
Speaker 10: It was not just the media there.
Speaker 1: Some of the Cuban exile community were there to welcome
Speaker 1: him with scigns like the maniola liberta.
Speaker 18: Sombra.
Speaker 1: Someone in the crowd yells out, you're free here. Here
Speaker 1: is no fear sombra. There is no shadow here. Remember
Speaker 1: in Cuban and Spanish, it means there is no Cuban authorities,
Speaker 1: no Fidel Castro, no one monitoring you, casting a shadow
Speaker 1: over you. It is painful to watch this video. Umiel
Speaker 1: looks defeated. He's reading a statement, stumbling over his words.
Speaker 20: Come on stm for me, I thought as sicological and
Speaker 20: fluid and Supersionally, my.
Speaker 1: Son has been subjected to cruel psychological pressures to influence
Speaker 1: his personality, he said.
Speaker 20: Ellen I told into a c V in the meetings
Speaker 20: in Majo communication to col interest, the saga provit of
Speaker 20: political alma.
Speaker 1: And on top of everything, he added, Elian has been
Speaker 1: exhibited in parades, meetings and in the media, all to
Speaker 1: use his.
Speaker 10: Strategedy for political gain.
Speaker 1: From the video, you can tell that toll this saga
Speaker 1: has taken on Juan Miguel. He looks tired, his best
Speaker 1: friend in Cuba. Toll reporters at the time that Jamielle's
Speaker 1: hair was falling out and he was suffering from stomach issues.
Speaker 1: The next day, Juamiel met privately with the Attorney General,
Speaker 1: Janet Reno.
Speaker 10: Afterwards, she spoke to the press.
Speaker 23: I wholeheartedly reject Cuba's system of government. Mister Gonzales and
Speaker 23: I do not share the same political beliefs, but it
Speaker 23: is not our place to punish a father for his
Speaker 23: political beliefs or where he wants to raise his child. Indeed,
Speaker 23: if we were to start judging parents on the basis
Speaker 23: of their political beliefs, we would change the concept of
Speaker 23: family for the rest of time.
Speaker 1: Even when in the US, without Castro looking over his shoulder,
Speaker 1: Emiel refused asylum again, saying his life and family were
Speaker 1: in Cuba.
Speaker 10: An Eilean Wood grew up on the island Cuban.
Speaker 3: He wanted to go home. Not everybody wants to live
Speaker 3: in the United States. Mister Gonzalez wanted to go home,
Speaker 3: and he wanted to take a six year old son
Speaker 3: with This is.
Speaker 1: Jim Goldman, a special agent with the I Ins who
Speaker 1: you met earlier in the series. Reno encouraged Juan Miel
Speaker 1: to meet with the Miami family and hash things out,
Speaker 1: but he told her it was too late. There was
Speaker 1: so much anger and pain on all sides. The relatives
Speaker 1: in Miami had promised that Jamiel only had to come
Speaker 1: to the US and they would give a lean back.
Speaker 1: But now even with Jamielle here, they still refused to
Speaker 1: hand him over the government. So things were escalating.
Speaker 3: Every day thing to start worse and worse, and worship
Speaker 3: got darker and deeper.
Speaker 1: Eventually, the Attorney General and AS Commissioner flew to Miami
Speaker 1: and met with the family there four hours in an
Speaker 1: effort to reach an agreement.
Speaker 3: His relatives did not want him to go home. Call
Speaker 3: it what you want. Was he being held against as
Speaker 3: will I don't know. Was he endangered? I don't know.
Speaker 1: On April twelfth, almost a week after Camille had landed
Speaker 1: in the US, the Ions instructed Lasarro Gonzalez remember the
Speaker 1: Great Uncle, to bring Elean to the Opa Loka Airport
Speaker 1: in Miami at two pm the next day, but he
Speaker 1: never showed. This is when the government revoked the Miami
Speaker 1: family's temporary care of Ilian. Remember, dian Areno was the
Speaker 1: legal custodian for Elian in the US, and after he
Speaker 1: was rescued, she gave the Miami family temporary care of him.
Speaker 23: It has been nearly twelve weeks since the Commissioner's decision,
Speaker 23: four months since Elian was found at sea. It is
Speaker 23: time for this little boy, who has been through so
Speaker 23: much to be with his father. The relatives say it
Speaker 23: would be wrenching to him to take him from the home,
Speaker 23: but four months is no substitute for six years for
Speaker 23: a father who had such an important role in raising
Speaker 23: such a wonderful little boy.
Speaker 1: The day that Lasar was supposed to bring Elian to
Speaker 1: the airport, a home video aired on Univision and soon
Speaker 1: spread across the news.
Speaker 14: Ba Jnai Erica.
Speaker 1: Eleann is sitting on a bed, presumably in the Miami
Speaker 1: family home, and someone is recording a home video of
Speaker 1: him saying, Bapa, I don't want to go to Cuba
Speaker 1: and you should stay here.
Speaker 10: I'm not going to Cuba here.
Speaker 1: After this line, he looks away towards someone of camera,
Speaker 1: and then the video cuts and edit before he picks up.
Speaker 10: Again, sahah here you stay to return with.
Speaker 1: Our Many who took the father's side felt that Eleano
Speaker 1: was coached in this video that he as a child,
Speaker 1: was being manipulated by the adults around him to say it.
Speaker 1: He wanted to remain in the United States, but perhaps
Speaker 1: what the Miami family had been worried about, that he
Speaker 1: would not have free willing Cuba was actually his reality
Speaker 1: here in the United States with them. On the same
Speaker 1: day the video aired, the Florida Family Court reversed his
Speaker 1: previous ruling and dismissed laceroscostoly request. The odds were stacking
Speaker 1: up against the Gonzalezes of Miami, and yet they would
Speaker 1: not watch.
Speaker 23: Instead of discussing how Ilion should be reunited, the attorneys
Speaker 23: for the relatives continued to demand that we revisit the
Speaker 23: issue of whether Alion should be reunited. That is not
Speaker 23: what the law provides.
Speaker 1: As negotiations stalled, Emiel was in d C without his son.
Speaker 1: One day, the frustration got to him as he grabbed
Speaker 1: some air outside the Qban interessection in d C. Protesters
Speaker 1: yelled to him that he could stay in the US
Speaker 1: with a lian.
Speaker 9: Yes, that's yes, not I thing a waniyay? Why how'd
Speaker 9: I leaving a maday?
Speaker 1: And he responded raising his middle finger. A brief hit
Speaker 1: of his more brazen self, and also likely a breaking
Speaker 1: point for him, because then Elian, who had been in
Speaker 1: the spotlight twenty four seven, started disappearing from the public view.
Speaker 3: If my son hadn't been seen for five days, I'd
Speaker 3: be concerned, and I know mister Gonzales would have been
Speaker 3: concerned too.
Speaker 1: Elian's grandmother's visit didn't bring him home to Cuba. His
Speaker 1: own father coming to the United States didn't bring the
Speaker 1: Gonzaleses together. The government now believed that only one thing
Speaker 1: could resolve the standoff at this point, an intervention by
Speaker 1: force if necessary.
Speaker 10: That's next week. Chess Piece.
Speaker 1: The Elian Gonzales Story is a production of Tudo Studios
Speaker 1: in partnership with Iheartsmichael Tura podcast Network. This show is
Speaker 1: written and reported by me Pennilei Ramdez with Maria Garcia,
Speaker 1: Nicole Rothwell, and Tasha Sandowa. Our editor is Maria Garcia,
Speaker 1: additional editing by Marlon Bishop.
Speaker 10: Our senior producer is Nicole Rodwell.
Speaker 1: Our associate producers are Tasha Sandoval and Elisabeth Loental Torns.
Speaker 1: Sound designed by Jacob Rosati with help from Stephani Levo,
Speaker 1: and our intern is Evelin Fajardo Albarez. Our senior production
Speaker 1: manager is Jessica Elis, with production supports from Nancy Trujillo,
Speaker 1: Francis Poon and Lolimar Marquez. Also thank you Lodi mar
Speaker 1: for voicing Marie Lesy Gonzalez for a quote.
Speaker 10: That you heard in this episode.
Speaker 1: Mixing by Stephani Levo, Julia Caruso and j J.
Speaker 10: Corubin.
Speaker 1: Fat checking by Media Bautista, Scoring and musical creation by
Speaker 1: Jacob Rosati and Stephanie Levo and credits music from Los
Speaker 1: Aceros Or. Executive producers are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia.
Speaker 1: Legal review by Neil Rossini. Hutua Media was founded by
Speaker 1: Maria Novosa. For more podcasts, listen to the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Speaker 1: An Penileia Mirez See you in the next episode Novenes
Speaker 1: and episode Yeah