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Speaker 1: On Thanksgiving Day in nineteen ninety nine, a five year

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Speaker 1: old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost

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Speaker 1: his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba.

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Speaker 2: Looked like a little angel. I mean, he looks so fresh.

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Speaker 1: Soon, that angelic face will be seen across the world

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Speaker 1: and his name, Elian Gonzalez will make headlines everywhere.

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Speaker 3: It happens at the same time that we have the

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Speaker 3: modern media machine being created, the twenty four hour news cycle.

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Speaker 4: Gonzales Alianzalas.

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Speaker 1: At the heart of the story is a young boy

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Speaker 1: and the question of who he belongs with his father

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Speaker 1: in Cuba.

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Speaker 5: Mister Gonzales wanted to go home, and he wanted.

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Speaker 1: To take your son with or his relatives in Miami.

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Speaker 3: Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom.

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Speaker 1: This was not just any custody battle. It was also

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Speaker 1: a battle between two enim nations.

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Speaker 5: Elean Coomes. Fidel hasn't gone down. Everybody's not happy about that.

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Speaker 5: And by God, Fidel's not going to get this trophy.

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Speaker 4: And there was a front page picture of Jennerino and

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Speaker 4: she took her sewing scissors and tore out the eyes

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Speaker 4: of Generino.

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Speaker 6: He was cut in the crossfire between two governments, and

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Speaker 6: not just him, all Cubans are caught in that crossfire.

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Speaker 4: At the heart of it all is still this painful family.

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Speaker 1: Separation, something that as a Cuban I know all too well.

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Speaker 1: It was before a Lean and after Alian. Listen to

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Speaker 1: chees Peace, the Lean Gonzalez Story from Futura Studios on

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Speaker 1: the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.