It began on Thanksgiving day, in November, 1999, when two fisherman pulled the body of a five year old cuban boy out of the waters off the coast of Florida. The boy was Elian Gonzalez. He was one of three survivors of a group of Cuban refugees seeking political asylum and freedom from communist Cuba under Fidel Castro's rule. Elian's mother, Elisabeth Brotons, along with her common-law husband and nine others, drowned when the boat carrying them to the United States capsized and sank. Elisabeth Broton's husband, Lazaro Munero, was apparently trying to smuggle his family and the others into the United States, charging the others one-thousand dollars for the trip. When the boat took on water, two large truck innertubes were used as flotation devices in an attempt to remain alive. After more than a day adrift at sea, Elian was found alone clinging to one of the innertubes off shore near Fort Lauderdale. He was dehydrated, sun-stricken, and emotionally scarred from watching those around him perish in the vast ocean; but he was alive. Elian was released into the temporary custody of his great-uncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, after being released from Joe Dimmaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. Lazaro Gonzalez, along with his daughter, Marisleysis Gonzalez, brought Elian to their South Florida home in Miami's Little Havana section to shelter him from media attention until future arrangements involving his father could be made."God wanted him here for freedom," said Elian's second-cousin Marisleysis, "And he's here and he will get it." Meanwhile back in Cuba, Elian's natural father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez, began requesting the return of his son. He strongly disapproved asylum for his son and stated that his wishes should be respected over that of the Miami relative's. Thus begins the bi-cultural, political tug-of-war between a family that is dividing a country and determining the future of a young boy.Back on December 10, 1999, in Dallas,...
