enewed interest in Cuba became apparent recently when headlines heralded the predicament of a small child. On Thanksgiving Day 1999, a young boy was rescued from an inner tube drifting off the coast of Florida. He was the only survivor of a desperate attempt to escape Cuba and a life dominated by Fidel Castro's regime. Elián González, six years old and frightened, was welcomed by relatives in Miami-and embraced by Cuban American communities across America. For them, the name of "Elián" became a cry of liberty, a word of defiance, and a call to action.
A volatile custody battle erupted between Elián's Miami-based family members and Elián's father, who remained in Cuba. The exiles, who recognized that Elián's mother had died bringing her child to freedom, argued that no one should have to return to the oppressive environment of Castro's Cuba-especially not a child who had miraculously reached sanctuary.

On the other side of the debate, many believed that the child should be returned to Cuba. Some questioned the wisdom of separating the child from his father, although Elián's parents were already divorced. Still others pointed to law, preferring to debate legal questions rather than philosophical ones.

Ultimately, the Justice Department upheld the decision by the Immigration and Naturalization Service to follow U.S. law and return the child to Cuba in the care of his father. On April 22, 2000, representatives of the U.S. government seized Elián from the home of his Miami relatives and reunited him with his father, who had traveled to the U.S. to retrieve his son. Within weeks, they returned to Cuba amid much fanfare and resumed their lives.

While Miami's Cuban population lobbied government officials, distributed flyers, and staged protests, others across the country responded with confusion to their displays of unity and resistance. What was the controversy over sending a little boy home?

For More Information try these books:
Bay of Pigs Declassified
The Kennedy Tapes
Thirteen Days
The Kennedys and Cuba
The Most Dangerous Area in the World