1 00:00:01,520 --> 00:00:04,200 Speaker 1: When Elian made it to Miami, I was twelve years 2 00:00:04,240 --> 00:00:08,440 Speaker 1: old living in Cuba. My younger brother, Juan Carlos, who 3 00:00:08,480 --> 00:00:13,240 Speaker 1: we called Kwankey, was eight, kuanky like me. Remember, Alian's 4 00:00:13,280 --> 00:00:15,520 Speaker 1: face was everywhere, Yeah. 5 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,280 Speaker 2: Of course, and they made shirts and posters and all 6 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:19,079 Speaker 2: over the school. 7 00:00:19,160 --> 00:00:20,720 Speaker 3: There was the flavor of the month. 8 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:21,040 Speaker 4: You know. 9 00:00:22,200 --> 00:00:25,680 Speaker 1: Elian's story was more than just the flavor of the month. Actually, 10 00:00:26,400 --> 00:00:37,559 Speaker 1: it was a national cause. Before Elian was even rescued, 11 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,320 Speaker 1: his family in Cuba had contacted the Communist party in 12 00:00:41,400 --> 00:00:45,720 Speaker 1: his hometown seeking help. That's how Fidel Castro found out 13 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: about Ilian. The Cuban government sent a message to the US. 14 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:54,280 Speaker 1: The day after Elian was found, Tregress and Mino Superba 15 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:57,680 Speaker 1: in Cuba returned the boy to his father in Cuba. 16 00:00:58,200 --> 00:01:01,360 Speaker 1: In the days that followed, Strum met with Ilian's father 17 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:13,560 Speaker 1: and became increasingly angry. In film and check, he said, 18 00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:16,319 Speaker 1: the US has kidnapped Elian Gonzalez. 19 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,440 Speaker 5: The opinion shut down where. 20 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:34,760 Speaker 1: It sounded a little like a threat, but the ominous 21 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:38,440 Speaker 1: stone in Castro's boys escaped my kid brother. He was 22 00:01:38,520 --> 00:01:42,000 Speaker 1: more concerned that he could not watch his regular cartoons 23 00:01:42,040 --> 00:01:44,320 Speaker 1: because of the constant news about Eliang. 24 00:01:44,959 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 6: They were giving a whole spill of bring back Alian 25 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:48,680 Speaker 6: at that time. 26 00:01:48,720 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 3: I'm a kid that he really didn't care about it. 27 00:01:51,200 --> 00:01:54,120 Speaker 1: I did not care about cartoons. I was just a 28 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:58,600 Speaker 1: regular nerdy preteen, dividing my time between poetry and the 29 00:01:58,680 --> 00:02:02,559 Speaker 1: Spice Girls. The year before, my father had fled Cuba 30 00:02:02,600 --> 00:02:05,920 Speaker 1: for Miami. He was trying to escape the poverty and 31 00:02:06,000 --> 00:02:09,200 Speaker 1: instability of our country. I didn't know when I will 32 00:02:09,200 --> 00:02:12,360 Speaker 1: see him again. Much of this time in my life 33 00:02:12,560 --> 00:02:19,480 Speaker 1: is blurry, but there is one sharp memory. I'm in 34 00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:22,760 Speaker 1: front of the US headquarters in Cuba at a government 35 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,200 Speaker 1: mandated protest that I was required to attend. 36 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:28,280 Speaker 7: Screaming loudly. 37 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:37,359 Speaker 1: Bring back Ilian to Cuba. This memory surprises me now 38 00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:41,360 Speaker 1: because frankly, I don't remember what I actually thought of Elia, 39 00:02:41,880 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: like I don't remember actually having an opinion, and yet 40 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,560 Speaker 1: here I was at this protest, screaming from the bottom 41 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:58,400 Speaker 1: of my heart. I have come to realize I was 42 00:02:58,480 --> 00:03:01,560 Speaker 1: not screaming for Elian. I was screaming for my dad, 43 00:03:02,200 --> 00:03:06,160 Speaker 1: screaming in frustration that, like Eleane, the same strip of 44 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,600 Speaker 1: ocean separated me from my father. I did not understand 45 00:03:10,760 --> 00:03:14,120 Speaker 1: or really care about the political forces that had caused 46 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:18,160 Speaker 1: or separation. I only knew that I missed him, that 47 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:21,080 Speaker 1: I needed him, that I was angry that I could 48 00:03:21,080 --> 00:03:24,440 Speaker 1: not be with him, and so I. 49 00:03:24,400 --> 00:03:31,040 Speaker 6: Screamed, no family issue had to go through what we went, 50 00:03:31,880 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 6: just because I'm looking for a better future. 51 00:03:35,720 --> 00:03:37,440 Speaker 7: My brother told me this recently. 52 00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:42,400 Speaker 1: I agree, but we are Cuban, and to be Cuban 53 00:03:42,720 --> 00:03:50,240 Speaker 1: is so often to be separated from their family. Unpenny 54 00:03:50,280 --> 00:03:54,080 Speaker 1: later meets and this is chess peace. The Elian Gonzalez 55 00:03:54,200 --> 00:03:59,120 Speaker 1: Story a production of Putuda Studios in partnership with Ihearts 56 00:03:59,240 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: Michael Tuda podcast Network. On December sixth, nineteen ninety nine, 57 00:04:11,520 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: Elian Gonzalez celebrated his sixth birthday in Miami. It was 58 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: just a week and a half after he had been 59 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,640 Speaker 1: rescued from the sea. He had been staying with distant 60 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: relatives on his dad's side, his great uncle Lasara Gonzalez, 61 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:30,120 Speaker 1: and Lazaro's twenty one year old daughter Mary Leasis. 62 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,039 Speaker 8: How did he survive by himself when he's only five? 63 00:04:33,560 --> 00:04:35,440 Speaker 8: And the only thing I could probably say that it's 64 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:37,080 Speaker 8: just a miracle. 65 00:04:37,520 --> 00:04:38,200 Speaker 7: People said. 66 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: She became like a mother figure for Elian. She cared 67 00:04:41,560 --> 00:04:45,360 Speaker 1: for him, making him chocolate milk, something that was so 68 00:04:45,560 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: luxury in Cuba and that Elean had quickly come to love. 69 00:04:50,080 --> 00:04:53,520 Speaker 1: One journalist reported that Mary Leasis would say to Elian, 70 00:04:54,400 --> 00:04:58,040 Speaker 1: mere Alliancito, your grandmothers cannot make you this in Cua. 71 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:01,000 Speaker 8: I just want him to be wherever he wants to 72 00:05:01,040 --> 00:05:01,920 Speaker 8: be comfortable. 73 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:07,080 Speaker 1: Marit Less quickly became the family spokesperson. Unlike her father, 74 00:05:07,320 --> 00:05:10,560 Speaker 1: she spoke English well because she had been raised in 75 00:05:10,600 --> 00:05:14,360 Speaker 1: the US. She was young, passionate about the lean, and 76 00:05:14,520 --> 00:05:16,680 Speaker 1: comfortable in front of the cameras. 77 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 7: I asked him, do you want to go back? You 78 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:21,320 Speaker 7: mean you know you want to stay here? 79 00:05:21,400 --> 00:05:23,679 Speaker 9: And he said, I don't want to go back. 80 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: She and her father, last Settle, believed Elian's mother died 81 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: trying to give him safety and freedom in the US, 82 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,600 Speaker 1: and they were not alone. Cuban Americans would show up 83 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,200 Speaker 1: at their house demand in the US government let Elean 84 00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:41,479 Speaker 1: stay in the US. 85 00:05:42,080 --> 00:05:46,680 Speaker 7: Yeahmanda. 86 00:05:49,320 --> 00:05:51,800 Speaker 1: People would say it would be a shame to send 87 00:05:51,800 --> 00:05:56,080 Speaker 1: the boy back to communism and hunger in Cuba. At 88 00:05:56,080 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: his birthday at a local park, Elien was given many 89 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,920 Speaker 1: gifts and a huge birthday cake, but that was an 90 00:06:02,920 --> 00:06:07,560 Speaker 1: Alien's only birthday party in Cuba, his school organized a 91 00:06:07,680 --> 00:06:12,479 Speaker 1: celebration in his absence with a special guest, Fidel Gastro 92 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:18,640 Speaker 1: himself stopped by. He wore his typical olive green military uniform. 93 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:22,520 Speaker 1: Alien's father, Juamiel, spoke to his son by phone that 94 00:06:22,680 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: day to wish him a happy birthday, and they spoke 95 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:28,640 Speaker 1: as if Alien will be back in Cuba soon. 96 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 10: Well, that went to Hedi. Really. 97 00:06:41,880 --> 00:06:45,800 Speaker 1: There were protests in Havana marking the week of Alian's birthday. 98 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:59,359 Speaker 1: Cubans chanted down with imperialism, socialism, or death. But the 99 00:06:59,400 --> 00:07:03,200 Speaker 1: protest in Cuba did not change Elean status in the US. 100 00:07:03,520 --> 00:07:08,440 Speaker 1: His future was still in limbo. His Miami relatives had 101 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:12,080 Speaker 1: begun the process to file for asylum for Elian. At 102 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:15,880 Speaker 1: the time, Cubans were guaranteed entry to the US if 103 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:19,440 Speaker 1: they made it to the US soil. But Alian didn't 104 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:21,920 Speaker 1: technically meet these requirements. 105 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:26,480 Speaker 11: Because he was rescued at sea and never made it 106 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 11: to the shoreline. He was a wet foot Cuban national. 107 00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:35,440 Speaker 1: This is Bernie Permurter, professor of law at the University 108 00:07:35,480 --> 00:07:39,600 Speaker 1: of Miami. He's referring to an unusual American policy at 109 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:45,440 Speaker 1: the time known as bisco pimojus or wet foot dryfoot. 110 00:07:46,520 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: It allowed any Cuban to legally stay in the US 111 00:07:50,640 --> 00:07:53,160 Speaker 1: as long as they made it to the American shore 112 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: after crossing the ocean from Cuba, literally stepping on dry land. 113 00:07:58,640 --> 00:08:02,920 Speaker 1: That's the dry foot. But Cubans who were captured or 114 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:06,240 Speaker 1: rescued at sea by the cost guard, they were not 115 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:07,600 Speaker 1: permitted entry to. 116 00:08:07,560 --> 00:08:10,320 Speaker 7: The United States. That's the wet foot. 117 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:15,480 Speaker 11: The federal government had taken legal custody of Elianis. I 118 00:08:15,520 --> 00:08:18,760 Speaker 11: said he didn't reach the shore, so he did not 119 00:08:18,840 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 11: have the benefit of dry feet landing on the beaches 120 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 11: of Florida. 121 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:27,880 Speaker 1: So Alien's status under immigration law was not certain, and 122 00:08:27,920 --> 00:08:31,679 Speaker 1: another immigration policy in the US at that time said 123 00:08:31,720 --> 00:08:35,320 Speaker 1: that only a parent could apply for asylum for their child. 124 00:08:36,000 --> 00:08:40,400 Speaker 1: So to immigration officials, Alien's Miami relatives didn't have the 125 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,760 Speaker 1: authority to decide the boy's fate. 126 00:08:46,559 --> 00:08:50,040 Speaker 4: I'm not sure I understand what their rights are. These 127 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 4: were distant relatives. 128 00:08:51,840 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: This is Jim Goldman, former special agent with US Immigration 129 00:08:55,760 --> 00:09:02,000 Speaker 1: and Naturalization Services or ions. We shall say in unusual circumstances, 130 00:09:02,320 --> 00:09:05,440 Speaker 1: the law does allow the government to assign a guardian 131 00:09:05,559 --> 00:09:10,080 Speaker 1: to one unaccompanied child, even if there are distant relatives 132 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: or not relatives, but in this case, the government was 133 00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: insistent that there was no need to since Elian's father 134 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:19,120 Speaker 1: wanted him back. 135 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:25,440 Speaker 4: I think the biological father has more right to make 136 00:09:25,480 --> 00:09:28,360 Speaker 4: decisions for his child at the time was, you know, 137 00:09:28,440 --> 00:09:31,599 Speaker 4: five and six years old, more so than anybody. 138 00:09:32,200 --> 00:09:35,679 Speaker 1: Jim thinks this case should have been open and shot, but. 139 00:09:36,360 --> 00:09:41,080 Speaker 4: It became a hot topic because I think the system 140 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:42,920 Speaker 4: allowed for it to become a hot topic. 141 00:09:43,600 --> 00:09:44,160 Speaker 7: He's right. 142 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,080 Speaker 8: Tensions between the United States and Cuba get hotter every 143 00:09:48,160 --> 00:09:51,240 Speaker 8: day six year old Cuban refugee Ilian Gonzales remains in 144 00:09:51,240 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 8: this country. 145 00:09:52,120 --> 00:09:55,440 Speaker 1: The American media system jumped on Alian's story. 146 00:09:56,840 --> 00:09:59,880 Speaker 12: Cuban men, women, and children protested on the streets of 147 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,000 Speaker 12: by the thousands last night. It was the largest turnout 148 00:10:04,040 --> 00:10:07,199 Speaker 12: so far at the third night of protest, orchestrated by 149 00:10:07,200 --> 00:10:08,040 Speaker 12: Fidel Castro. 150 00:10:09,400 --> 00:10:12,400 Speaker 1: It became the biggest story in the country at a 151 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: time when networks competed for wall to world news covers. 152 00:10:17,200 --> 00:10:20,320 Speaker 13: It happens at the same time that we have the 153 00:10:20,440 --> 00:10:24,840 Speaker 13: modern media machine being created, the twenty four hour news cycle, 154 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:29,000 Speaker 13: the dying of network news, the expansion of cable news 155 00:10:29,360 --> 00:10:30,600 Speaker 13: the need for content. 156 00:10:31,240 --> 00:10:33,760 Speaker 1: Go back and look at some of the news archives 157 00:10:33,960 --> 00:10:36,920 Speaker 1: and it does start to fill at times like Elean 158 00:10:37,160 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: was treated like content. There were cameras always stuck in 159 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: Ilian outside the Miami home, reporters trying to catch a 160 00:10:46,840 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: look of him playing ball, being. 161 00:10:49,160 --> 00:10:49,839 Speaker 7: A little boy. 162 00:10:50,760 --> 00:10:53,720 Speaker 14: Relatives of Elian Gonzalez say they saw a different side 163 00:10:53,760 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 14: of the six year old, a boy simply filled with 164 00:10:56,400 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 14: joy and happiness. 165 00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:02,439 Speaker 1: Reporters tried to capture sure every detail of Alian's introduction 166 00:11:02,520 --> 00:11:06,120 Speaker 1: to American culture, like when he went to Disney World 167 00:11:06,200 --> 00:11:09,360 Speaker 1: for the first time, where he got a personal hug 168 00:11:09,880 --> 00:11:14,240 Speaker 1: and a baseball hut autograph for Nana Masi Alamenos came 169 00:11:14,320 --> 00:11:16,199 Speaker 1: Mickey Mouse himself. 170 00:11:16,080 --> 00:11:19,560 Speaker 14: But Ellian showed some lingering signs of his Thanksgiving ordeal 171 00:11:19,600 --> 00:11:21,839 Speaker 14: and rescue at sea when he went on the It's 172 00:11:21,880 --> 00:11:23,440 Speaker 14: a Small World water rid. 173 00:11:25,160 --> 00:11:29,280 Speaker 1: And the interview request kept coming. Diane Sawyer had a 174 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: playdate with Lean on camera. 175 00:11:34,720 --> 00:11:37,600 Speaker 4: It was probably the biggest media item in the United States, 176 00:11:37,600 --> 00:11:39,360 Speaker 4: if not the world at the time. 177 00:11:39,880 --> 00:11:41,440 Speaker 9: He would go to a party, you would go to 178 00:11:41,520 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 9: a restaurant, you would see your family. The talk the 179 00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:48,720 Speaker 9: main subject was Ellian, you know what's going to happen 180 00:11:48,800 --> 00:11:50,040 Speaker 9: to that boy. 181 00:11:51,080 --> 00:11:54,880 Speaker 1: Alina Mayo Assay is a television news bra a seasoned 182 00:11:54,960 --> 00:11:59,200 Speaker 1: news anchor who covered Miami's biggest stories for decades. She 183 00:11:59,360 --> 00:12:02,680 Speaker 1: says nothing at the time could compare to the appeal 184 00:12:02,679 --> 00:12:04,120 Speaker 1: of Alien story. 185 00:12:04,240 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 7: It was unprecedented. 186 00:12:06,080 --> 00:12:09,240 Speaker 9: It was our headline story practically every day. It was 187 00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,240 Speaker 9: before Alian and after Alian. It definitely marked a line 188 00:12:14,480 --> 00:12:17,240 Speaker 9: and the story and the history of the Cuban exile 189 00:12:17,679 --> 00:12:19,880 Speaker 9: in the United States, especially in Miami. 190 00:12:20,559 --> 00:12:21,640 Speaker 7: But in Cuba. 191 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:25,760 Speaker 1: The US media frenzy seemed to make Fidel Castro even 192 00:12:25,840 --> 00:12:30,960 Speaker 1: more upset, and soon Castro will send another stern message. 193 00:12:31,520 --> 00:12:49,920 Speaker 1: We turned the boy in seventy two hours. Fidel's message 194 00:12:50,000 --> 00:12:53,720 Speaker 1: to the US was clear, returned the boy in three. 195 00:12:53,600 --> 00:12:57,360 Speaker 7: Days, only not too el Primian. 196 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:01,560 Speaker 1: So that the pains of for an on trauma Dipoe 197 00:13:01,640 --> 00:13:04,520 Speaker 1: and his family does not go a mini longer, he said, 198 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:10,120 Speaker 1: and his words were in the only ominous move. Castro 199 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,559 Speaker 1: stationed several dozen Cuban soldiers outside of the US Government 200 00:13:14,679 --> 00:13:18,880 Speaker 1: Intersection office in Havana. This is the headquarters where I 201 00:13:19,000 --> 00:13:24,000 Speaker 1: remember attending government sponsor protests for Elian. I remember the 202 00:13:24,120 --> 00:13:27,520 Speaker 1: tension in the air, the vague sense that there was 203 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: something biggest stake here, something with a lot of biggers. 204 00:13:39,960 --> 00:13:42,920 Speaker 1: To understand why Land's case became such a big deal, 205 00:13:43,120 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: you had to understand the complicated relationship between Cuba and 206 00:13:47,440 --> 00:13:53,200 Speaker 1: the United States. Let's start in the early fifties. At 207 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:57,960 Speaker 1: this time, Cuba was ruled by Fulhenzioatista, who was once elected, 208 00:13:58,000 --> 00:14:02,040 Speaker 1: but whose government had become actually a military dictatorship. 209 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:07,239 Speaker 10: Six years of surface pastparity and government corruption, of retression 210 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:10,080 Speaker 10: and police brutality, right explosive discontent. 211 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:15,839 Speaker 1: Mattista was friendly to US interests, allowing American companies like 212 00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: Coca Cola and United Fruit to own a giant amount 213 00:14:19,800 --> 00:14:24,560 Speaker 1: of Cuban land. Workers struggled to survive on low wages 214 00:14:24,680 --> 00:14:29,760 Speaker 1: and oppressive conditions. This inequality ripened the country for the 215 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:32,080 Speaker 1: ideals of Fidel Castro's revolution. 216 00:14:33,120 --> 00:14:36,640 Speaker 10: Hubert's Fidel Castro emerged triumphant after two years a guerrilla 217 00:14:36,680 --> 00:14:40,320 Speaker 10: warfare against the Batista regime. A revolution that began with 218 00:14:40,480 --> 00:14:43,520 Speaker 10: Castro of fugitive ended with the find of dictator for 219 00:14:43,680 --> 00:14:47,360 Speaker 10: Cenzio Batista and the entry into Havana of rebel forces 220 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 10: to be acclaimed. 221 00:14:48,200 --> 00:14:48,760 Speaker 4: By the city. 222 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,560 Speaker 1: He and his fighters including a john Argentinian doctor named 223 00:14:56,760 --> 00:15:01,480 Speaker 1: Erneto che Evara, eventually overthrew a Vista and his government. 224 00:15:02,120 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: Castro and his men were the underdogs. The uprising had 225 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:09,560 Speaker 1: begun with just eighteen men in the mountains of La 226 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:13,640 Speaker 1: Sierra Maestra, and it had spread to the whole island. 227 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,320 Speaker 1: At first, the US was not alarmed. 228 00:15:19,640 --> 00:15:23,960 Speaker 8: Now, when Fidel Castro's fighting to depose Battista, he's not 229 00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,680 Speaker 8: calling himself communist. Many of the people who were in 230 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,400 Speaker 8: his movement, which was called the twenty sixth of July Movement, 231 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 8: were young people who were ardently anti communists. 232 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: This is Ala Ferrer, the Cuban American history professor at 233 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,480 Speaker 1: Princeton you heard from in episode one. 234 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:42,840 Speaker 8: But they believed in deposing Batista. They believed in acting 235 00:15:42,920 --> 00:15:44,160 Speaker 8: against government corruption. 236 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,960 Speaker 1: By nineteen sixty, the new government approved laws that banned 237 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: all foreign ownership of Cuban land, banishing American companies from 238 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:59,200 Speaker 1: the island and nationalizing their businesses. His government also confiscated 239 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,640 Speaker 1: the line of Ques, who held more than one thousand acres. 240 00:16:03,400 --> 00:16:07,720 Speaker 1: Even Castro's own mother was apparently outraged that her son 241 00:16:07,960 --> 00:16:13,480 Speaker 1: had confiscated their family estate. Castro redistributed this line to 242 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:15,600 Speaker 1: workers or statecomings. 243 00:16:16,320 --> 00:16:20,680 Speaker 8: They start enacting social reforms like the urban reform, cutting rents, 244 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:25,000 Speaker 8: and with all these laws that they're passing, they're getting 245 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 8: enormous amounts of support. 246 00:16:27,640 --> 00:16:31,040 Speaker 1: Some of that support came from my own grandparents, who 247 00:16:31,120 --> 00:16:34,200 Speaker 1: got the chance to buy for almost nothing the apartment 248 00:16:34,240 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: that they were renting before the revolution. It was the 249 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: same apartment where I was raised with my mother thirty 250 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:44,400 Speaker 1: years after that. Not everyone felt like my grandparents. 251 00:16:44,680 --> 00:16:46,960 Speaker 8: Obviously, the people whose land is being taken away are 252 00:16:47,040 --> 00:16:48,400 Speaker 8: not necessarily going to support. 253 00:16:48,880 --> 00:16:52,720 Speaker 1: But Castro was well liked in Cuba, not just by 254 00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,760 Speaker 1: my grandparents but by many other Cubans. 255 00:16:56,800 --> 00:16:59,760 Speaker 5: So the tor policies in Cuba, doctor Castro, are leading 256 00:16:59,840 --> 00:17:02,600 Speaker 5: to two conditions of great economic difficulty. 257 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,480 Speaker 7: Is this so everybody working? 258 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:07,000 Speaker 5: Everybody happy? 259 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:12,720 Speaker 1: In this nineteen sixty one BBC interview, Castro is young, smiling, 260 00:17:13,000 --> 00:17:17,520 Speaker 1: easy going. The journalist wrote that Castro charmed and impressed 261 00:17:17,760 --> 00:17:22,439 Speaker 1: many reporters. When Castro came to power, he promised democratic 262 00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:26,160 Speaker 1: elections will come as soon as the new government stabilized, 263 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:34,560 Speaker 1: but by the early sixties that hadn't happened. The Cubans 264 00:17:34,600 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 1: who left for the United States after Castro had taken 265 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:38,440 Speaker 1: their land. 266 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:43,440 Speaker 7: So Castro not for a revolutionary but a despot. 267 00:17:44,600 --> 00:17:48,160 Speaker 5: Some people say, some of your Cuban enemies, says yes, 268 00:17:48,880 --> 00:17:53,080 Speaker 5: people in Miami Americans say that you started a revolution 269 00:17:53,320 --> 00:17:56,320 Speaker 5: to bring in democracy and you have not done so. 270 00:17:56,960 --> 00:17:59,680 Speaker 1: In this part of the video, when the reporter mentions 271 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:04,840 Speaker 1: ones in Miami, Castro gets a son Ricita his marks 272 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:05,240 Speaker 1: a little. 273 00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 7: Do you believe that there is no democracy here? 274 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,560 Speaker 15: I'm ensure there is more your question than that. 275 00:18:11,840 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 5: In the United States, the most free main man you 276 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,879 Speaker 5: can't find in all America is the Cuban. 277 00:18:22,880 --> 00:18:26,000 Speaker 1: Ada says that in a survey from February of nineteen 278 00:18:26,080 --> 00:18:30,080 Speaker 1: fifty nine, about ninety one percent of the respondents said 279 00:18:30,119 --> 00:18:34,240 Speaker 1: that the new government was doing everything perfectly well, but 280 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,120 Speaker 1: Washington didn't feel this way. 281 00:18:36,880 --> 00:18:40,640 Speaker 8: Here is Ada again, The President and senators and congressmen 282 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,119 Speaker 8: were saying, what is Cuba doing? It's turning communists. 283 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,400 Speaker 1: By nineteen sixty two, the US had cut diplomatic ties 284 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:52,800 Speaker 1: with Cuba and declared and embargo forbidding American trade with Cuba, 285 00:18:53,280 --> 00:18:56,920 Speaker 1: hoping to create shortages and hunger on the island to 286 00:18:57,040 --> 00:19:01,879 Speaker 1: destitlize Castro's new government. This time Castro had been turning 287 00:19:01,880 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: into the Soviet Union for help and trade. 288 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:10,000 Speaker 15: What the United States and self respect can endure that 289 00:19:10,240 --> 00:19:11,840 Speaker 15: lemit has now been reached. 290 00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:17,680 Speaker 1: The CIA also secretly trained some fourteen hundred Cubans who 291 00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:20,760 Speaker 1: had led for the US to invade Cuba at the 292 00:19:20,800 --> 00:19:25,600 Speaker 1: Way of Peaks Lava Yedecuccinos, believing the attack could kickstart 293 00:19:25,880 --> 00:19:31,520 Speaker 1: an uprising against Castro. But the attended invasion failed miserably. 294 00:19:33,880 --> 00:19:37,320 Speaker 1: I remember learning in our history classes in Cuba about 295 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,639 Speaker 1: these early days of Castro's rule, how he created new systems, 296 00:19:41,920 --> 00:19:45,879 Speaker 1: free health care and free education, improving the quality of 297 00:19:46,040 --> 00:19:50,600 Speaker 1: life for ordinary Cubans. I remember some people in Cuba 298 00:19:50,720 --> 00:19:54,359 Speaker 1: saying that yes, their life improved at the beginning, and 299 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,679 Speaker 1: they supported Castro, pretty convinced that great years were ahead. 300 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:03,480 Speaker 1: But what I didn't learn in school was that from 301 00:20:03,560 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: the very beginning, the censorin and self Censorina started, and 302 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:12,240 Speaker 1: Cuba quickly became a place with almost no freedom of expression. 303 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:19,560 Speaker 1: Under this new regime, dissidents were often imprisoned and then 304 00:20:20,000 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: thanks got warse. 305 00:20:22,960 --> 00:20:25,959 Speaker 8: It's a period that follows the fall of the Soviet 306 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:30,359 Speaker 8: Union and state socialism in Eastern Europe and the Cuban 307 00:20:30,480 --> 00:20:33,560 Speaker 8: economy just tanked almost from one day to the next. 308 00:20:34,280 --> 00:20:36,040 Speaker 8: There was the joke of you know, Cuba, but it 309 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:39,359 Speaker 8: wasn't really a joke. You know, Cuba just has three problems. 310 00:20:39,480 --> 00:20:42,400 Speaker 8: You know, there's a union and mercilla, comedia breakfast, lunch 311 00:20:42,480 --> 00:20:46,680 Speaker 8: and dinner. And everywhere I went, the constant refrain was 312 00:20:46,800 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 8: noise fasci. Everyone had the reservation meant that, and it 313 00:20:49,880 --> 00:20:54,080 Speaker 8: was just this constant struggle to live and to survive. 314 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,080 Speaker 1: Over the decades, waves of Cuban's left the island for 315 00:20:59,160 --> 00:21:03,639 Speaker 1: the US flights and votes. There were the fourteen thousand 316 00:21:03,760 --> 00:21:07,200 Speaker 1: children who were put on planes to Miami in fear 317 00:21:07,320 --> 00:21:10,040 Speaker 1: that they will be taken away from their families and 318 00:21:10,240 --> 00:21:15,080 Speaker 1: put in communist inductrination camps. That never happened, by the way. 319 00:21:17,200 --> 00:21:19,439 Speaker 8: Then the next wave was nineteen eighty and the Mario 320 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,240 Speaker 8: boat lived in which one hundred and twenty five thousand 321 00:21:22,280 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 8: people came in the space of about you know, five months. 322 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:29,719 Speaker 15: Even less, the president has literally opened the floodgates, placing 323 00:21:29,800 --> 00:21:33,159 Speaker 15: no limitations on the number of Cubans entering the United States. 324 00:21:34,000 --> 00:21:37,359 Speaker 1: A decade after Mariel, with the fall of the Soviet Union, 325 00:21:37,800 --> 00:21:41,320 Speaker 1: Cuba entered the years of severe scarcity that I remember 326 00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:45,640 Speaker 1: from my childhood. The Cuban government named it the Special 327 00:21:45,760 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 1: Period or Elperio Pessie. 328 00:21:48,640 --> 00:21:50,680 Speaker 8: Then there was the Raftro crisis in ninety four, which 329 00:21:50,680 --> 00:21:52,520 Speaker 8: I think was about thirty five thousand people in the 330 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:55,359 Speaker 8: space of a few months. But in all those years 331 00:21:55,720 --> 00:21:57,399 Speaker 8: there were people leaving. 332 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:02,359 Speaker 1: Most of the time could not leave Cuba together. They 333 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:05,320 Speaker 1: would decide who had a better chance to leave, save, 334 00:22:05,720 --> 00:22:08,480 Speaker 1: send money, and work hard to help the rest of 335 00:22:08,560 --> 00:22:12,639 Speaker 1: the family on the island. There are many families like 336 00:22:12,760 --> 00:22:16,840 Speaker 1: mine and Aliens where a parent or a child comes 337 00:22:16,920 --> 00:22:18,320 Speaker 1: without the rest of their family. 338 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 8: Family separation is, you know, was a part of the 339 00:22:22,440 --> 00:22:24,560 Speaker 8: story of the Cuban Revolution from the very beginning. 340 00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,439 Speaker 1: Family separation has become souci a part of the Cuban 341 00:22:29,560 --> 00:22:33,680 Speaker 1: cultural DNA that is actually pretty difficult to meet a 342 00:22:33,840 --> 00:22:37,439 Speaker 1: Cuban who has not been touched by it. And who 343 00:22:37,520 --> 00:22:41,200 Speaker 1: you blame for that separation depends on what side of 344 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,960 Speaker 1: the small strip of ocean between Cuba and Florida you 345 00:22:45,080 --> 00:23:04,119 Speaker 1: are on. Alien's story flooded every corner of life in Cuba. 346 00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:08,159 Speaker 1: I remember not just attending but watching the protests in 347 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:13,600 Speaker 1: Havana demanding Elian be brought home. So those Harold Cardinas 348 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: quean journalist and political analyst. 349 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,280 Speaker 2: People in Havanah had to rally all the time, and 350 00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:23,840 Speaker 2: it's impressive when you look at the images of the 351 00:23:23,960 --> 00:23:28,479 Speaker 2: Malecon in Havana next to the sea full of probably 352 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,840 Speaker 2: millions of Cubans. That is an impressive thing. That showed 353 00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,680 Speaker 2: the capacity that the Kivan government had back then to 354 00:23:36,880 --> 00:23:39,720 Speaker 2: rally people and to bring them together for a cause. 355 00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:44,880 Speaker 2: I am sure that many of them were strongly encouraged 356 00:23:45,160 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 2: in their jobs to join those rallies, but others were 357 00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:50,840 Speaker 2: going because they really believe in it. 358 00:23:53,040 --> 00:23:54,040 Speaker 7: I felt this too. 359 00:23:54,640 --> 00:23:58,560 Speaker 1: Sure there were people there because the protests were mandated, 360 00:23:59,000 --> 00:24:01,879 Speaker 1: but I also saw people who were truly calling for 361 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:06,160 Speaker 1: his return, outraged that the boy was being kept from 362 00:24:06,240 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: his father. 363 00:24:07,160 --> 00:24:10,200 Speaker 2: Obviously, at that age, it's hard to distinguish between the 364 00:24:10,400 --> 00:24:13,000 Speaker 2: real fight of a kid that deserves to be with 365 00:24:13,119 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 2: his father and the propaganda and how the governments also 366 00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:22,640 Speaker 2: used people citizens for propaganda purposes. So as a child 367 00:24:23,080 --> 00:24:25,280 Speaker 2: it was hard to distinguish the propaganda. 368 00:24:25,200 --> 00:24:25,880 Speaker 7: On both sides. 369 00:24:30,000 --> 00:24:33,280 Speaker 1: In Cuba, I remember hearing a lot about how Alien's 370 00:24:33,320 --> 00:24:36,560 Speaker 1: father had never agreed that Ilian could be taken to 371 00:24:36,640 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: the United States. How the US was keeping a boy 372 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:43,879 Speaker 1: away from the rightful parent, another example of the evil 373 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:47,960 Speaker 1: US Empire. But for Cubans in Florida, this case was 374 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:50,960 Speaker 1: about freedom and saving a boy from oppression. 375 00:24:52,000 --> 00:24:56,080 Speaker 15: Many of the people, the Qubit Americans in Miami identified 376 00:24:56,160 --> 00:24:58,639 Speaker 15: with the mother and her motivations for doing what she 377 00:24:58,800 --> 00:25:01,879 Speaker 15: did and the fact she lost her life in trying. 378 00:25:01,640 --> 00:25:02,040 Speaker 5: To do this. 379 00:25:02,920 --> 00:25:07,440 Speaker 1: This is former Assistant Secretary of State Petromero. But this 380 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:11,320 Speaker 1: idea that Alien's mother had died trying to reach freedom 381 00:25:11,440 --> 00:25:15,320 Speaker 1: for her son is not as black and white. There 382 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,680 Speaker 1: is some evidence that Alien's mother was going to the 383 00:25:18,800 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: United States not for freedom, but to follow her boyfriend. 384 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,480 Speaker 16: They truly were the Cuban Romeo and Juliet Well. 385 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:28,720 Speaker 7: She was reputting the story. 386 00:25:29,000 --> 00:25:32,440 Speaker 1: Journalist and Louis bardak So a five page love letter 387 00:25:32,560 --> 00:25:36,440 Speaker 1: between the couple, and she and others are convinced that 388 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:38,200 Speaker 1: love was the real motive. 389 00:25:39,040 --> 00:25:42,520 Speaker 16: The reason the mother was on the boat was because 390 00:25:43,359 --> 00:25:49,240 Speaker 16: of her great love for Rafa Muneerum. If Rafa had 391 00:25:49,280 --> 00:25:52,640 Speaker 16: said we're going to Iceland or we're going to Columbia, 392 00:25:53,680 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 16: I think she. 393 00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,719 Speaker 1: Would have gone with him, regardless of why she got 394 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:01,240 Speaker 1: on the boat. What do you should know is people 395 00:26:01,520 --> 00:26:05,680 Speaker 1: either identified with Lilian's mom and the US or Alien's 396 00:26:05,760 --> 00:26:06,840 Speaker 1: dad and Cuba. 397 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,600 Speaker 15: Everybody can understand, you know, a child who's a Cuban 398 00:26:10,680 --> 00:26:13,280 Speaker 15: child taken away from you know, the bosom of the 399 00:26:13,400 --> 00:26:15,960 Speaker 15: motherland and all of that stuff, and you know we 400 00:26:16,080 --> 00:26:18,320 Speaker 15: want him back. And yeah, I mean it was it 401 00:26:18,480 --> 00:26:19,800 Speaker 15: was great for propaganda. 402 00:26:23,200 --> 00:26:26,480 Speaker 1: I see how Alian was used by both sides to 403 00:26:26,600 --> 00:26:31,480 Speaker 1: boaster ideology. But mostly when I see Alian, I see 404 00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: US Cubans, people who have experienced family separation over seven decades. 405 00:26:38,400 --> 00:26:42,720 Speaker 1: I see my family, my brother Juankey, who now lives 406 00:26:42,760 --> 00:26:46,960 Speaker 1: in Miami and works as a SWAT paramedic and firefighter. 407 00:26:48,800 --> 00:26:51,600 Speaker 1: Some people thought that you look like Ilian yourself. 408 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,119 Speaker 3: Well, yeah, that was my nickname on Fire Academy when 409 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:56,960 Speaker 3: I was eighteen, or my English pretty much up. But 410 00:26:57,119 --> 00:27:00,760 Speaker 3: back then it was pretty bad, and that was my 411 00:27:00,920 --> 00:27:09,960 Speaker 3: victim of Fire Academy, Alion Gonzales, you are the littlefees million. 412 00:27:12,440 --> 00:27:15,159 Speaker 7: It is true my brother does look like Alan. 413 00:27:16,240 --> 00:27:18,920 Speaker 1: Maybe that's why it's been easier for me to imagine Elean, 414 00:27:19,119 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: not as a headline, not as a piece of geopolitics 415 00:27:22,880 --> 00:27:28,400 Speaker 1: or history, or even as propaganda. No, I see Elean 416 00:27:28,520 --> 00:27:31,240 Speaker 1: as someone who once was a boy in a new 417 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:34,640 Speaker 1: and unknown country without his mom. 418 00:27:34,680 --> 00:27:35,280 Speaker 7: Or his dad. 419 00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:39,080 Speaker 1: And I know the whole that creates in your heart 420 00:27:39,840 --> 00:27:43,920 Speaker 1: to be separated from a parent. Forces greater than you 421 00:27:44,200 --> 00:27:49,840 Speaker 1: keeping you from them, countries and their policies, politicians and 422 00:27:50,119 --> 00:27:56,080 Speaker 1: their aims, reporters and their deadlines. That's all in the periphery. 423 00:27:56,960 --> 00:28:00,680 Speaker 1: At the center, at the heart of Alian's journey is 424 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:03,600 Speaker 1: that he was a boy who longed for his parents 425 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:22,639 Speaker 1: like I once did. Next time on Chess Peace, Miami, 426 00:28:22,720 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: Cubans and Ilian's relatives start getting angry. 427 00:28:26,880 --> 00:28:29,359 Speaker 4: Elean comes Fidel hasn't gone down. 428 00:28:29,960 --> 00:28:33,720 Speaker 10: Everybody is not happy about that, and by God, Fidel's 429 00:28:33,760 --> 00:28:35,280 Speaker 10: not going to get this trophy. 430 00:28:37,240 --> 00:28:40,640 Speaker 1: And the battle for Elian starts breaking up a family. 431 00:28:47,120 --> 00:28:47,680 Speaker 7: Chess piece. 432 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,000 Speaker 1: The Elian Gonzales Story is a production of Utuda Studios 433 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: in partnership with Iheart's Michael Turda podcast Network. This show 434 00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:59,680 Speaker 1: is written and reported by me Pennileea Medz with Maria Garcia, 435 00:29:00,080 --> 00:29:04,400 Speaker 1: Cold Rockwell and Tasha Sandoval. Our editor is Maria Garcia. 436 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,120 Speaker 1: Additional editing by Marlon Bishop or. Senior producer is Nicole Rockwell. 437 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:15,560 Speaker 1: Our associate producers are Tasha Sandoval and Elisabeth Loental Torres. 438 00:29:16,280 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: Sound designed by Jacob Rossatti and our intern is Evelin 439 00:29:20,640 --> 00:29:25,360 Speaker 1: Fajardo Alvarez. Our senior production manager is Jessica Elis, with 440 00:29:25,600 --> 00:29:29,120 Speaker 1: production supports from Nancy Trujillo and Francis Poon. 441 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:31,400 Speaker 7: Mixing by Stephanie. 442 00:29:31,000 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: Levo, Julia Caruso and j J Carubin, fat checking by 443 00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: Media Bautista, Scoring and musical creation by Jacob Rossatti and 444 00:29:40,760 --> 00:29:45,920 Speaker 1: Stephanie Levo and credits music from Los aceos Or. Executive 445 00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:50,760 Speaker 1: producers are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Legal review by 446 00:29:50,920 --> 00:29:55,360 Speaker 1: Neil Rossini. This episode was recorded in part at Dynamica 447 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: Studio in Mexico City. Whuturo Media was founded by Maria 448 00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:04,480 Speaker 1: noo Cossa. For more podcasts, listen to the iHeartRadio app, 449 00:30:04,720 --> 00:30:08,200 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts or whenever you listen to your favorite shows 450 00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:12,920 Speaker 1: mpany later, missus see you in the next episode. Novement 451 00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:13,440 Speaker 1: episode