Introducing: Chess Piece: The Elián González Story

On Thanksgiving 1999, five-year-old Elián González was rescued at sea near the Florida coast after his mother and others drowned on a make-shift boat, fleeing from Cuba. His miraculous survival would make global headlines, but Elián would be put in the middle of a dramatic familial feud and two enemy nations — highlighting the very Cuban experience of family separation.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
On Thanksgiving Day in nineteen ninety nine, a five year
old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost
his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba.

Speaker 2 (00:12):
Looked like a little angel. I mean, he looks so fresh.

Speaker 1 (00:19):
Soon, that angelic face will be seen across the world
and his name, Elian Gonzalez will make headlines everywhere.

Speaker 3 (00:29):
It happens at the same time that we have the
modern media machine being created, the twenty four hour news cycle.

Speaker 4 (00:36):
Gonzales Alianzalas.

Speaker 1 (00:41):
At the heart of the story is a young boy
and the question of who he belongs with his father
in Cuba.

Speaker 5 (00:50):
Mister Gonzales wanted to go home, and he wanted.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
To take your son with or his relatives in Miami.

Speaker 3 (00:56):
Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom.

Speaker 1 (01:02):
This was not just any custody battle. It was also
a battle between two enim nations.

Speaker 5 (01:08):
Elean Coomes. Fidel hasn't gone down. Everybody's not happy about that.
And by God, Fidel's not going to get this trophy.

Speaker 4 (01:17):
And there was a front page picture of Jennerino and
she took her sewing scissors and tore out the eyes
of Generino.

Speaker 6 (01:24):
He was cut in the crossfire between two governments, and
not just him, all Cubans are caught in that crossfire.

Speaker 4 (01:33):
At the heart of it all is still this painful family.

Speaker 1 (01:36):
Separation, something that as a Cuban I know all too well.
It was before a Lean and after Alian. Listen to
chees Peace, the Lean Gonzalez Story from Futura Studios on
the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.