October 30, 2024 • 31 mins
In the aftermath of the raid, agents brought Elián to Washington D.C. where father and son would finally reunite. But Elián and his dad were stuck in the United States while the court case played out — and while Miami burned with rage at what many Cuban Americans saw as a deep betrayal by the federal government.
Peniley reflects on the power of reunions. As Elián was reunited with his father, his cousin Marisleysis was in despair. And in April 2000, Peniley had just turned 13 years old, still separated from her own father as a result of US and Cuban policies.
This season's cover art by Ranfis Suárez Ramos.
Thanks to These Archival Sources:
Lynn and Louis Wolfson II Florida Moving Image Archives
Original Material Appeared In:
ABC Evening News
AP Archive
Belly of The Beast
CNN Evening News
CNN's "Elián: The Remarkable Story of A Cuban Boy's Journey to America"
Cubadebate
C-SPAN
MSNBC
NPR's "All Things Considered"
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Jim Goldman, the agent in charge of the rape that
removed Ilam from his Miami family home, now sat with
a young boy in a leer jet. The two were
on the way to reunite Alan with his father. As
they flew over two hours to the DC area, the
sun rose. Once they landed, Alien's father, Emil Gonzalez, came
(00:34):
onto the lear jet.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I handed only into mister Gonzales and both of them.
If anybody ever thought that this was staged or artificial,
they're so wrong, because I was sitting right there and
both of them were in tears, hugging each other, and
they embraced what seemed like a long time. There was
truly a sincere reunion. My son was exactly the same
(01:01):
age as Allien at the time, so I looked at
this is how happy would I be if somebody put
my child in my arms.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
This scene of Elian and his father embrace him for
a long time reminded me of something I.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Read about them.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
When Elea lived in Cuba, he split his time between
his mom and dad, and during their drop offs, his
father and him had a special goodbye ritual. Ellen and
his dad would give each other a racitos little hugs
over and over again. One friend said sometimes their goodbyes
(01:48):
would take ten minutes. As an adult, Elean said in
an interview with Cuban Press Dad and Memorial Mafelisa Kengo
and Momentum Contra Momental Bad he speaks with emotion in
his voice, saying that reuniting with his dad was one
(02:09):
of the happiest moments of his life. Reunions are powerful,
in particular for Cuban families who have been torn apart
by theopolitics. Our reunion is the first step in treating
the wound. It stops the bleeding. But the Gonzales family
(02:40):
had a new woe to tend to Mary LASiS and
the Miami relatives wearing despair after Elean was taken from them,
and the Gonzalezes of Miami were determined to get him back.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And I demand, and I think I have the rights
to see this boy, because I've taken care of this
boy for five months when the father wasn't here for him.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Most too want exiles in Miami agreed with Mary Leasis.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
The city was a blaze.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
This is the last thing I can assure you that
the Cuban American leadership in this community wanted to see
the streets literally burning now another tire.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
Miami was all in mourning for Ilian. They were just
I think they were shocked. They had expected the raid
to happen, but were shocked when it happened. They were saddened.
I think people felt powerless because they hadn't been able
to stop it.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Miami. Two ones could not stop the government from taking
it Yan, but they could show their anger by protesting.
Speaker 7 (03:42):
Dear gas.
Speaker 8 (03:42):
Tear gas.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Johnny, come back to us, Chazz right now, Chazz, right now, Chaz,
come back to us, right now.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Chet And the future of Illana and his father was
a seal in the hands of the US legal system.
Speaker 9 (03:56):
Look like soldiers are firing tear gas.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Later, Minus and this is chess Peace. The Elean Gonzalez
Story a production of Duda Studios in partnership with Iheartsmichael.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Durdah podcast Network.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The day after the raid, the Gonzalezes of Miami called
a news conference.
Speaker 10 (04:24):
What was done in my house.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Was the worst thing that could have happened to a family.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Twenty one year old Mary Lezy Gonzalez spoke alongside her
family and Donato Dalrymple, the man who rescued Leannatzea. She
reminded the cameras that it had been heard to pick
Elean up from the hospital. She spoke and answered the
(04:51):
press questions for over thirty minutes.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
She was distressed, but determined his.
Speaker 11 (04:57):
Father could have done this in a very peaceful way.
We've always wanted to see him. My doors have always
been opened to everybody.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
She stood surrounded by the press holding the iconic photo
from the raid, Elianne screaming, crying in Donato's arms, with
an agent pointing a gun in their direction. Mary Leacy's
accused her cousin, Juan Miuel, for having a role in
the violence that breached her home, rieping Elean away from her.
Speaker 11 (05:28):
And where is he that he couldn't prevent this and
that he hasn't said anything about this? Is this a
father that cares for the best entest of a child?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And then there was a moment where she turned to
the topic of elian.
Speaker 10 (05:44):
All I ask is.
Speaker 11 (05:47):
I need to see Elean and the conditions that they
took this boy out of my house.
Speaker 10 (05:54):
I know he's not okay.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Marie Lesey's tone changed when she spoke about Elean.
Speaker 10 (06:00):
She was vulnerable and I know this boy needs to
see me too.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
In a twenty seventeen Ciena documentary, Eleann spoke about Mary
Lacy's pain.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
One ofka Mary.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Lease Mary Leasy's doesn't deserve my rage, he said, looking
towards the camera.
Speaker 11 (06:38):
Da Karin.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
As a moment, she tried to.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Give me the care I needed at that moment. It
is that care that we all witnessed back then, Mary
Lacy's and Eleane smiling together, hugging, seemingly happy.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
She is Malaysia.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
She was just a young girl, a young girl at
a news conference after one of the most dramatic days
of her life. As she went on, Mary Lecy's began
to say things that to some people diminished her credibility.
Speaker 11 (07:12):
And the picture that they show with the father.
Speaker 10 (07:17):
That is not Alean.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
She spoke about a widely published photo of Eleane and
Ramiel back together. In the photo, Elean is with his dad,
his step mom, and his younger brother. Eleanne is in
his dad's arms, the boy's hand around his father's neck,
both of them smiling. Mary Lacy's questioned if it was
really Alien in the photo, that hair.
Speaker 11 (07:43):
Is not Alan's. I'm the one that cuts Alian's hair
and three days before I had given him a haircut.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
To me, this reveals something deeper about Mary Lacy's her
despair at this moment. We only know Mary Lacy's from
this face in her life, her as a young twenty
one year old. Imagine if you were forever known and
judged for how you reacted to one of the most
agonizing moments in your life. I don't blame Mary Leasy's
(08:15):
for choosing to live a private life after this saga.
There is something powerful in being the focal point of
one of the first viral stories and then saying this
is my boundary and I will never cross it again.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I respect that.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
For Eleian, the legal battle was not over yet, even
though he was fineinally with his dad, because before the raid,
the Miami family had.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
Filed a request for an injunction against irons, and the
injunction would basically say he cannot be removed from the
United States so long as this appeal is pending.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Kendall Coffee, one of the family's lead attorneys. As a
Lion's case continued to move through the courts, he was
not allowed to leave the country, which meant to Lean
and his dad were living in the US for now
at least, and outside of the court rooms in Florida, people.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Lit the city on fire. Here in Miami, they were
rioting and they were breaking things, and they were destroying
things in the Miami police had to come out.
Speaker 11 (09:45):
This is abuse, this is abused to the Cuman.
Speaker 12 (09:48):
I'm ashamed to be American.
Speaker 10 (09:50):
I'm a shame to be an American city. Let me
ask you this, what do you think will happen now?
Speaker 11 (09:54):
Can will you express your anger?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And nobody can tell.
Speaker 10 (09:57):
Nobody can tell what's gonna happen in the future.
Speaker 13 (09:59):
Nobody.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
At this point, it felt like Miami was all in
mourning for Elian.
Speaker 14 (10:13):
There was a huge protest march down Kyoto and it
was substantial, one of these few times where you actually
have thousands of.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
People Guillermo Grenier Cuban American sociologist. But the government was
not the only one getting criticized. There were also other
Americans who spoke out against the Q and exiled community
in Miami.
Speaker 14 (10:40):
And there was a counter demonstration. If you want to
look at it that way, it wasn't so much against Eleon,
but it was to support Janet Reno and then to
say that Eleon should go.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Back to the Dad over eighty percent of Cuban Americans,
though the Elian case left a black mark on the
reputation in the country according to a later poll, perhaps
because after the raid, they witnessed a new group of
people taken to the streets in Miami.
Speaker 14 (11:12):
It was a midley crew of people that were trying
to express their opinions about Eleon, about immigration, about the
Democratic Party, the Republican Party. You had good old boys
and pickup trucks with Confederate flags driving down the street
with signs saying send them all.
Speaker 8 (11:31):
Back, we won't larn it back now.
Speaker 14 (11:52):
So you had a kind of a counter demonstration that
was against the immigrant agenda of Miami Day Count, which
is dominantly Cuban.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
As Miami burned, Joe Garcia was called to lead the
Cuban American National Foundation.
Speaker 15 (12:06):
Sometimes you can be right about something and people don't
agree with you, but you still have a responsibility as
a leader to protect your people from the loss.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
He was tasked with damage control because things were not
looking good for the exiled community.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
When you say that we lost, you mean you lost
the narrative or the legal case, or both.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
We were losing both right. At that point, we were
losing both.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
In the aftermath of the raid, the leader of this
powerful Cuban American organization admitted they were losing the narrative.
The Cuban community was no longer seeing just as allies
of the US pushing for democracy on our homeland. There
was also a new perception about US Cubans as troublemaker immigrants,
ungrateful to the US and disrespectful to US law. As
(13:11):
a legal case continued, Gregory Craig, j Emiel's lawyer, stepped
outside the chore room to speak with the press. It
was hard to hear him over the protest and outrage
from the Cuban American community.
Speaker 16 (13:24):
The issue as whether a remote relative over the attractions
of a sick and loving father n forced the Irons
to accept and process in the fire application of crime,
which had read and told, considerably destroyed Ron Miguel's the
(13:44):
rental rights and dismantled his family, and.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Then Emiel received some good news.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
The court sided with the Irons, saying that only Jamiel
had authority to speak for his son. In a press
conference after the ruling, Ramiel seemed more relaxed and confident.
Speaker 17 (14:06):
Yoga mobim heco.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
In the course decision, he said, as his father, I
am the one who can speak for my son.
Speaker 9 (14:20):
Made.
Speaker 17 (14:22):
Minaraila in necessiety, I mean want the profumia.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I love him so much and I really want all
of this to be over so that we can return
to our home with my son and all my family,
and for this not to take any longer. Yet, Jamiel
and Elan could still not leave. The injunction petitioned by
(14:57):
the Miami family lawyers was still in place parrying Elian
and his dad's departure. Attorney General Areno gave her own
press conference after the ruling.
Speaker 12 (15:08):
I am hopeful that this matter will soon reach a
final resolution so that Alian, his father, and the family
may resume their lives away from the scrutiny of the
media and the uncertainty that the legal battle has caused
for his entire family.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And two weeks later, the.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Family tries to get the full court of.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Appeals Bernie Permotter, family law professor who you have heard
throughout the series. A week later, the federal appeals courts
declined to hear the case.
Speaker 12 (15:38):
Furder.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
The lower courts had decided that Elean had no independent
claim to asylum and only his biological father could speak
for him. That's when the Miami family had won last.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Bite at the apple, and that was two petitions the
Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
The justices had to decide if they would hear the case.
Kendall Coffee, one of the Miamis family attorneys, was contacted
by a lawyer whose law firm wanted to help probono
with the Supreme Court case.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
And he had a partner who is also willing to
consider helping. Name Brett Kavanaugh.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yes, that Brett Kavanah, the now Supreme Court justice.
Speaker 9 (16:17):
We're here to determine whether Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated the impartiality,
the temperament, the even handedness that's needed to serve on
this great high Court of our land.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
In the application to the Supreme Court to consider the
alien case, Cavanan argued against something called the Chevron doctrine.
According to this doctrine, if an agency like the ins
had a policy about children like Elean, the course should
refer to the agency's reasonable interpretation of that policy. Recently, Cavanaugh,
(16:53):
as a member of the Supreme Court, voted to overturn
the Chevron doctrine, consistent with what he argued when represents
sent to Eliance relatives twenty five years ago. It is
a reminder that the Alien case involved many powerful people.
Kendall remembers the day of the Supreme Court ruling, waiting
for the call from Cavana. When the news came in.
(17:16):
Some of them went to a special place a day
of the ruling, and.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I can remember to this day because we went to
a chapel, Armita de la Caidad to wait for the news.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Leamita de la Garida. What a place.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
It is located near downtown Miami along the coast, facing
south towards Cuba. It is one of the most important
Catholic locations for Cubans in the United States. Inside it
is decorated with a mural of Cuban heroes and saints,
including lavign de la Garia Elgore, the Cuban patron saint.
(17:51):
If someone could make a miracle for the Gonzalezes of Miami,
it would be Lavin de la Garida.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
And so they waited, and I.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Never forget the call. When I've read Kavanaugh called me,
it was the news. Was very, very disappointed.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
After just two days, the highest court in the United
States returned that decision, declining to hear the case. The
lower court's decision stood. Only Alien's father could speak for
his son, and that was pretty much the end of
the case.
Speaker 12 (18:38):
Good evening.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
He was here two hundred and seventeen days.
Speaker 15 (18:40):
But tonight the legal fight between his father and his
Miami relatives is over, and Elian Gonzalez is on his
way to Havana.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
We are happy to go hunt.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Thank you, Eleana, and his dad would finally be going
home to Cuba. Jamiel ended his time in the United
States on a hopeful note. During his final press conference here,
he talked about the beautiful and brilliant people he met
in the.
Speaker 17 (19:11):
US Supremento the myth amilia.
Speaker 14 (19:20):
Eto a.
Speaker 18 (19:22):
E we mos device, and that this actually gave him
hope for possible friendship between Cuba and the US in
the future.
Speaker 17 (19:38):
Amima amdam amita from my.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I remember that they were saying he was coming, and
then you know they were very excited saying at what
time he was coming, and.
Speaker 11 (20:30):
The Honda and George.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
My younger brother Juankey was in Calawasar, Cuba in June
two thousand, the town outside Havana where he lived with
my step mom Biby, where I would still visit every
two weeks after my dad left Cuba.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I remember seeing the plane passing over the house going
to like the International for Emboyeros.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
The plane he saw that June was carrying Elian Gonzalez
and his father Jamiel, bringing them back to Cuba for
their heroes welcome. Other Cubans also remember this moment.
Speaker 15 (21:09):
I remember being in the living room of my grandparents
and I remember watching the airplane and the father and
the son walking down the airplane.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
When we saw jan Miel, a young father and Elian
united was really like wow, yeah, we made it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Now that he was on that plane landing in Cuba.
Miami was behind Elian. At the time, Mary Lacy's told
the press.
Speaker 13 (21:41):
I believe that someday and we return here. Oh I
wish I mis luck. This is the way that I
wanted it. And we have to accept that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Adelian has not returned to the US and he and
Mary Lacy's have not seen his shouthers. Years later, she
said in the Ciena documentary.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
Whoever's right or wrong, we're family and we love each other.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Elemiel carried his son Elian off the flight and they
were greeted by cheering, elated crowds waving Cuban flags. Elian
remembers his father hugging him as the plane landed. That's
when Alan saw the rest of his family in Cuba.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Gitar guitar miss When he saw.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
His family, he felt peace to be in Cuba, having
found his center again, but there was one key figure missing.
Fiel Castro reportedly did not want to create the media
frenzy like he has seen in the United States, and
he was worried about what the Lean had been told
about him. So Castro did not show up to greet
(23:06):
the Lean, postponing their introduction. Eventually, Elean would get to
go home to his house in Carolinas. He would no
longer be away from his father again. In two thousand
and seven, when my mom was no longer working for
(23:27):
the Quban government as an executive for the Quban Flag Airline,
I was finally able to travel to Miami and reunite
with my dad. I remember the excitement, the curiosity will
my dad and I reconnect after many years? Will we
be strangers? I recently asked my dad if he remembered
(23:47):
when we finally reunited.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
As a premier partamento.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Miami, bib medihoto miconti and to come up. I spent
the night. I te in my dad's apartment and slept
in his bath like I did when I was a child.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
We held hands the whole night too.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
This is the first time I have asked my dad
how he remembers our reunion. He broke down in tears.
Speaker 12 (24:26):
Me.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
But if we only do it was so beautiful, he
told me. Unlike me, my dad had no fears about
a reunion.
Speaker 18 (24:50):
Physical.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Our reunion just brought us back together physically, he says.
Speaker 11 (24:55):
Okay, see present, yes, yes, a lessons here, a little.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
We were always present in each other's mind. And that's
the essence of everything.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Which it was assumed a care able million hour.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Our look for.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
All that stood between us was earth and water, nothing else,
my dad told me. But I also know that my
dad was gone for some of the most difficult and
happy moments of my life. When I celebrated my King Senira,
when I started college, when I fell in love for
the first time, That irreplaceable absence marked me. It made
(25:41):
me more anxious about change, but braver to confront life's challenges.
Eleianne spent six months separated from his dad. I spent
eight years apart from mine.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Kaku on the suada ITHINTI it told tinto.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
My stepmom baby told me every Cuban has a book
of pain. Everyone is different, but we are all the same.
To exile and separation is a scar that never fully heals. Yes,
I carry that scar with me. I imagine Elean also does.
(26:34):
But I also carry so much more in me. I
see the deep roots of my dad within me. His
inheritance is in my devotion to my work, in my
love for the water that brings me calm and focus,
in my passionate character, and how small things fulfill me,
(26:56):
like people hugging in airports, the love of a baby,
or the sunlight filtering between the trees leaves. My dad
is still the first person I call when I'm having
a bad day, and every time, like magic, he takes
me out of the stress, makes me laugh, pushes me forward.
(27:20):
Come on, MOONI you can do it, he always says.
And of course, if my dad thinks I can do something,
I know I can do it. And sometimes I wonder
what Jamiel says to Elian to help him find his center.
(28:03):
As Eleane was settling back home in Cuba, the US
was about to face another political battle in the aftermath
of the case.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
They blamed Clinton, they blamed Jenne Reno, and Gore was
Clinton's vice president.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
As the US holds the twenty twenty four presidential election
next week, we will take you back to the two
thousand election when the fate of this country was in
the hands.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Of Miami voters. And to tell you what happened.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
In the next episode of the story, I will be
turning the mic over to my producer, you know her,
Tasha san Noli.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
What can da Mastashi Rui Sashi rely come on Manatacha Shikita.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Tasha and Harauelita.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
That is, Tasha reflects on the Liang case with her
grandma and Miami Cuban about how the exile.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Experience shaped her work Jess Peace.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
The Lean Gonzales Story is a production of Tuo Studios
in partnership with Iheartsmichael Gura podcast Network. This show is
written and reported by me Penni Lei Ramidez with Maria Garcia,
Nicole Rothwell, and Tasha Sandoval. Our editor is Maria Garcia.
Additional editing by Marlon Bishop. Our senior producer is Nicole Rodwell.
(29:49):
Our associate producers are Tasha Sandoval and Elisabeth Loental Torres.
Sound designed by Jacob Rosati with help from Stephanie Lebon
and our intern is Evelin Fajardo Alvarez. Our senior production
manager is Jessica Elis, with production supports from Nancy Trujillo,
Francis Poon and Lolimar Marquez. Mixing by Stephanie Levo, Julia
(30:13):
Caruso and j J Caruvin. Fat checking by Media Bautista.
Scoring and musical creation by Jacob Rossati and Stephanie Levo
and credits music from Los Aceros Or. Executive producers are
Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Legal review by Neil Rossini.
(30:33):
Huturo Media was founded by Maria Noofosa. For more podcasts,
listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. A Penileira Mirez see you
in the next episode, Novemo Hennessey and Episodia
Jim Goldman, the agent in charge of the rape that
removed Ilam from his Miami family home, now sat with
a young boy in a leer jet. The two were
on the way to reunite Alan with his father. As
they flew over two hours to the DC area, the
sun rose. Once they landed, Alien's father, Emil Gonzalez, came
(00:34):
onto the lear jet.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
I handed only into mister Gonzales and both of them.
If anybody ever thought that this was staged or artificial,
they're so wrong, because I was sitting right there and
both of them were in tears, hugging each other, and
they embraced what seemed like a long time. There was
truly a sincere reunion. My son was exactly the same
(01:01):
age as Allien at the time, so I looked at
this is how happy would I be if somebody put
my child in my arms.
Speaker 1 (01:21):
This scene of Elian and his father embrace him for
a long time reminded me of something I.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
Read about them.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
When Elea lived in Cuba, he split his time between
his mom and dad, and during their drop offs, his
father and him had a special goodbye ritual. Ellen and
his dad would give each other a racitos little hugs
over and over again. One friend said sometimes their goodbyes
(01:48):
would take ten minutes. As an adult, Elean said in
an interview with Cuban Press Dad and Memorial Mafelisa Kengo
and Momentum Contra Momental Bad he speaks with emotion in
his voice, saying that reuniting with his dad was one
(02:09):
of the happiest moments of his life. Reunions are powerful,
in particular for Cuban families who have been torn apart
by theopolitics. Our reunion is the first step in treating
the wound. It stops the bleeding. But the Gonzales family
(02:40):
had a new woe to tend to Mary LASiS and
the Miami relatives wearing despair after Elean was taken from them,
and the Gonzalezes of Miami were determined to get him back.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
And I demand, and I think I have the rights
to see this boy, because I've taken care of this
boy for five months when the father wasn't here for him.
Speaker 1 (03:07):
Most too want exiles in Miami agreed with Mary Leasis.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
The city was a blaze.
Speaker 5 (03:13):
This is the last thing I can assure you that
the Cuban American leadership in this community wanted to see
the streets literally burning now another tire.
Speaker 6 (03:20):
Miami was all in mourning for Ilian. They were just
I think they were shocked. They had expected the raid
to happen, but were shocked when it happened. They were saddened.
I think people felt powerless because they hadn't been able
to stop it.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Miami. Two ones could not stop the government from taking
it Yan, but they could show their anger by protesting.
Speaker 7 (03:42):
Dear gas.
Speaker 8 (03:42):
Tear gas.
Speaker 4 (03:43):
Johnny, come back to us, Chazz right now, Chazz, right now, Chaz,
come back to us, right now.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Chet And the future of Illana and his father was
a seal in the hands of the US legal system.
Speaker 9 (03:56):
Look like soldiers are firing tear gas.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
Later, Minus and this is chess Peace. The Elean Gonzalez
Story a production of Duda Studios in partnership with Iheartsmichael.
Speaker 3 (04:08):
Durdah podcast Network.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
The day after the raid, the Gonzalezes of Miami called
a news conference.
Speaker 10 (04:24):
What was done in my house.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
Was the worst thing that could have happened to a family.
Speaker 1 (04:31):
Twenty one year old Mary Lezy Gonzalez spoke alongside her
family and Donato Dalrymple, the man who rescued Leannatzea. She
reminded the cameras that it had been heard to pick
Elean up from the hospital. She spoke and answered the
(04:51):
press questions for over thirty minutes.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
She was distressed, but determined his.
Speaker 11 (04:57):
Father could have done this in a very peaceful way.
We've always wanted to see him. My doors have always
been opened to everybody.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
She stood surrounded by the press holding the iconic photo
from the raid, Elianne screaming, crying in Donato's arms, with
an agent pointing a gun in their direction. Mary Leacy's
accused her cousin, Juan Miuel, for having a role in
the violence that breached her home, rieping Elean away from her.
Speaker 11 (05:28):
And where is he that he couldn't prevent this and
that he hasn't said anything about this? Is this a
father that cares for the best entest of a child?
Speaker 1 (05:40):
And then there was a moment where she turned to
the topic of elian.
Speaker 10 (05:44):
All I ask is.
Speaker 11 (05:47):
I need to see Elean and the conditions that they
took this boy out of my house.
Speaker 10 (05:54):
I know he's not okay.
Speaker 1 (05:56):
Marie Lesey's tone changed when she spoke about Elean.
Speaker 10 (06:00):
She was vulnerable and I know this boy needs to
see me too.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
In a twenty seventeen Ciena documentary, Eleann spoke about Mary
Lacy's pain.
Speaker 3 (06:24):
One ofka Mary.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
Lease Mary Leasy's doesn't deserve my rage, he said, looking
towards the camera.
Speaker 11 (06:38):
Da Karin.
Speaker 3 (06:39):
As a moment, she tried to.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Give me the care I needed at that moment. It
is that care that we all witnessed back then, Mary
Lacy's and Eleane smiling together, hugging, seemingly happy.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
She is Malaysia.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
She was just a young girl, a young girl at
a news conference after one of the most dramatic days
of her life. As she went on, Mary Lecy's began
to say things that to some people diminished her credibility.
Speaker 11 (07:12):
And the picture that they show with the father.
Speaker 10 (07:17):
That is not Alean.
Speaker 1 (07:19):
She spoke about a widely published photo of Eleane and
Ramiel back together. In the photo, Elean is with his dad,
his step mom, and his younger brother. Eleanne is in
his dad's arms, the boy's hand around his father's neck,
both of them smiling. Mary Lacy's questioned if it was
really Alien in the photo, that hair.
Speaker 11 (07:43):
Is not Alan's. I'm the one that cuts Alian's hair
and three days before I had given him a haircut.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
To me, this reveals something deeper about Mary Lacy's her
despair at this moment. We only know Mary Lacy's from
this face in her life, her as a young twenty
one year old. Imagine if you were forever known and
judged for how you reacted to one of the most
agonizing moments in your life. I don't blame Mary Leasy's
(08:15):
for choosing to live a private life after this saga.
There is something powerful in being the focal point of
one of the first viral stories and then saying this
is my boundary and I will never cross it again.
Speaker 3 (08:30):
I respect that.
Speaker 1 (08:55):
For Eleian, the legal battle was not over yet, even
though he was fineinally with his dad, because before the raid,
the Miami family had.
Speaker 5 (09:05):
Filed a request for an injunction against irons, and the
injunction would basically say he cannot be removed from the
United States so long as this appeal is pending.
Speaker 1 (09:17):
Kendall Coffee, one of the family's lead attorneys. As a
Lion's case continued to move through the courts, he was
not allowed to leave the country, which meant to Lean
and his dad were living in the US for now
at least, and outside of the court rooms in Florida, people.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Lit the city on fire. Here in Miami, they were
rioting and they were breaking things, and they were destroying
things in the Miami police had to come out.
Speaker 11 (09:45):
This is abuse, this is abused to the Cuman.
Speaker 12 (09:48):
I'm ashamed to be American.
Speaker 10 (09:50):
I'm a shame to be an American city. Let me
ask you this, what do you think will happen now?
Speaker 11 (09:54):
Can will you express your anger?
Speaker 1 (09:56):
And nobody can tell.
Speaker 10 (09:57):
Nobody can tell what's gonna happen in the future.
Speaker 13 (09:59):
Nobody.
Speaker 6 (10:00):
At this point, it felt like Miami was all in
mourning for Elian.
Speaker 14 (10:13):
There was a huge protest march down Kyoto and it
was substantial, one of these few times where you actually
have thousands of.
Speaker 1 (10:22):
People Guillermo Grenier Cuban American sociologist. But the government was
not the only one getting criticized. There were also other
Americans who spoke out against the Q and exiled community
in Miami.
Speaker 14 (10:40):
And there was a counter demonstration. If you want to
look at it that way, it wasn't so much against Eleon,
but it was to support Janet Reno and then to
say that Eleon should go.
Speaker 1 (10:54):
Back to the Dad over eighty percent of Cuban Americans,
though the Elian case left a black mark on the
reputation in the country according to a later poll, perhaps
because after the raid, they witnessed a new group of
people taken to the streets in Miami.
Speaker 14 (11:12):
It was a midley crew of people that were trying
to express their opinions about Eleon, about immigration, about the
Democratic Party, the Republican Party. You had good old boys
and pickup trucks with Confederate flags driving down the street
with signs saying send them all.
Speaker 8 (11:31):
Back, we won't larn it back now.
Speaker 14 (11:52):
So you had a kind of a counter demonstration that
was against the immigrant agenda of Miami Day Count, which
is dominantly Cuban.
Speaker 1 (12:00):
As Miami burned, Joe Garcia was called to lead the
Cuban American National Foundation.
Speaker 15 (12:06):
Sometimes you can be right about something and people don't
agree with you, but you still have a responsibility as
a leader to protect your people from the loss.
Speaker 1 (12:14):
He was tasked with damage control because things were not
looking good for the exiled community.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
When you say that we lost, you mean you lost
the narrative or the legal case, or both.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
We were losing both right. At that point, we were
losing both.
Speaker 1 (12:33):
In the aftermath of the raid, the leader of this
powerful Cuban American organization admitted they were losing the narrative.
The Cuban community was no longer seeing just as allies
of the US pushing for democracy on our homeland. There
was also a new perception about US Cubans as troublemaker immigrants,
ungrateful to the US and disrespectful to US law. As
(13:11):
a legal case continued, Gregory Craig, j Emiel's lawyer, stepped
outside the chore room to speak with the press. It
was hard to hear him over the protest and outrage
from the Cuban American community.
Speaker 16 (13:24):
The issue as whether a remote relative over the attractions
of a sick and loving father n forced the Irons
to accept and process in the fire application of crime,
which had read and told, considerably destroyed Ron Miguel's the
(13:44):
rental rights and dismantled his family, and.
Speaker 3 (13:48):
Then Emiel received some good news.
Speaker 1 (13:51):
The court sided with the Irons, saying that only Jamiel
had authority to speak for his son. In a press
conference after the ruling, Ramiel seemed more relaxed and confident.
Speaker 17 (14:06):
Yoga mobim heco.
Speaker 1 (14:12):
In the course decision, he said, as his father, I
am the one who can speak for my son.
Speaker 9 (14:20):
Made.
Speaker 17 (14:22):
Minaraila in necessiety, I mean want the profumia.
Speaker 1 (14:34):
I love him so much and I really want all
of this to be over so that we can return
to our home with my son and all my family,
and for this not to take any longer. Yet, Jamiel
and Elan could still not leave. The injunction petitioned by
(14:57):
the Miami family lawyers was still in place parrying Elian
and his dad's departure. Attorney General Areno gave her own
press conference after the ruling.
Speaker 12 (15:08):
I am hopeful that this matter will soon reach a
final resolution so that Alian, his father, and the family
may resume their lives away from the scrutiny of the
media and the uncertainty that the legal battle has caused
for his entire family.
Speaker 3 (15:24):
And two weeks later, the.
Speaker 2 (15:25):
Family tries to get the full court of.
Speaker 1 (15:27):
Appeals Bernie Permotter, family law professor who you have heard
throughout the series. A week later, the federal appeals courts
declined to hear the case.
Speaker 12 (15:38):
Furder.
Speaker 1 (15:39):
The lower courts had decided that Elean had no independent
claim to asylum and only his biological father could speak
for him. That's when the Miami family had won last.
Speaker 2 (15:50):
Bite at the apple, and that was two petitions the
Supreme Court.
Speaker 1 (15:53):
The justices had to decide if they would hear the case.
Kendall Coffee, one of the Miamis family attorneys, was contacted
by a lawyer whose law firm wanted to help probono
with the Supreme Court case.
Speaker 5 (16:07):
And he had a partner who is also willing to
consider helping. Name Brett Kavanaugh.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Yes, that Brett Kavanah, the now Supreme Court justice.
Speaker 9 (16:17):
We're here to determine whether Judge Kavanaugh has demonstrated the impartiality,
the temperament, the even handedness that's needed to serve on
this great high Court of our land.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
In the application to the Supreme Court to consider the
alien case, Cavanan argued against something called the Chevron doctrine.
According to this doctrine, if an agency like the ins
had a policy about children like Elean, the course should
refer to the agency's reasonable interpretation of that policy. Recently, Cavanaugh,
(16:53):
as a member of the Supreme Court, voted to overturn
the Chevron doctrine, consistent with what he argued when represents
sent to Eliance relatives twenty five years ago. It is
a reminder that the Alien case involved many powerful people.
Kendall remembers the day of the Supreme Court ruling, waiting
for the call from Cavana. When the news came in.
(17:16):
Some of them went to a special place a day
of the ruling, and.
Speaker 5 (17:20):
I can remember to this day because we went to
a chapel, Armita de la Caidad to wait for the news.
Speaker 3 (17:27):
Leamita de la Garida. What a place.
Speaker 1 (17:30):
It is located near downtown Miami along the coast, facing
south towards Cuba. It is one of the most important
Catholic locations for Cubans in the United States. Inside it
is decorated with a mural of Cuban heroes and saints,
including lavign de la Garia Elgore, the Cuban patron saint.
(17:51):
If someone could make a miracle for the Gonzalezes of Miami,
it would be Lavin de la Garida.
Speaker 3 (17:57):
And so they waited, and I.
Speaker 5 (18:11):
Never forget the call. When I've read Kavanaugh called me,
it was the news. Was very, very disappointed.
Speaker 1 (18:20):
After just two days, the highest court in the United
States returned that decision, declining to hear the case. The
lower court's decision stood. Only Alien's father could speak for
his son, and that was pretty much the end of
the case.
Speaker 12 (18:38):
Good evening.
Speaker 3 (18:38):
He was here two hundred and seventeen days.
Speaker 15 (18:40):
But tonight the legal fight between his father and his
Miami relatives is over, and Elian Gonzalez is on his
way to Havana.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
We are happy to go hunt.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Thank you, Eleana, and his dad would finally be going
home to Cuba. Jamiel ended his time in the United
States on a hopeful note. During his final press conference here,
he talked about the beautiful and brilliant people he met
in the.
Speaker 17 (19:11):
US Supremento the myth amilia.
Speaker 14 (19:20):
Eto a.
Speaker 18 (19:22):
E we mos device, and that this actually gave him
hope for possible friendship between Cuba and the US in
the future.
Speaker 17 (19:38):
Amima amdam amita from my.
Speaker 1 (20:25):
I remember that they were saying he was coming, and
then you know they were very excited saying at what
time he was coming, and.
Speaker 11 (20:30):
The Honda and George.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
My younger brother Juankey was in Calawasar, Cuba in June
two thousand, the town outside Havana where he lived with
my step mom Biby, where I would still visit every
two weeks after my dad left Cuba.
Speaker 5 (20:46):
I remember seeing the plane passing over the house going
to like the International for Emboyeros.
Speaker 1 (20:53):
The plane he saw that June was carrying Elian Gonzalez
and his father Jamiel, bringing them back to Cuba for
their heroes welcome. Other Cubans also remember this moment.
Speaker 15 (21:09):
I remember being in the living room of my grandparents
and I remember watching the airplane and the father and
the son walking down the airplane.
Speaker 7 (21:22):
When we saw jan Miel, a young father and Elian
united was really like wow, yeah, we made it.
Speaker 1 (21:33):
Now that he was on that plane landing in Cuba.
Miami was behind Elian. At the time, Mary Lacy's told
the press.
Speaker 13 (21:41):
I believe that someday and we return here. Oh I
wish I mis luck. This is the way that I
wanted it. And we have to accept that.
Speaker 1 (21:54):
Adelian has not returned to the US and he and
Mary Lacy's have not seen his shouthers. Years later, she
said in the Ciena documentary.
Speaker 10 (22:04):
Whoever's right or wrong, we're family and we love each other.
Speaker 1 (22:19):
Elemiel carried his son Elian off the flight and they
were greeted by cheering, elated crowds waving Cuban flags. Elian
remembers his father hugging him as the plane landed. That's
when Alan saw the rest of his family in Cuba.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
Gitar guitar miss When he saw.
Speaker 1 (22:44):
His family, he felt peace to be in Cuba, having
found his center again, but there was one key figure missing.
Fiel Castro reportedly did not want to create the media
frenzy like he has seen in the United States, and
he was worried about what the Lean had been told
about him. So Castro did not show up to greet
(23:06):
the Lean, postponing their introduction. Eventually, Elean would get to
go home to his house in Carolinas. He would no
longer be away from his father again. In two thousand
and seven, when my mom was no longer working for
(23:27):
the Quban government as an executive for the Quban Flag Airline,
I was finally able to travel to Miami and reunite
with my dad. I remember the excitement, the curiosity will
my dad and I reconnect after many years? Will we
be strangers? I recently asked my dad if he remembered
(23:47):
when we finally reunited.
Speaker 3 (23:49):
As a premier partamento.
Speaker 1 (23:53):
Miami, bib medihoto miconti and to come up. I spent
the night. I te in my dad's apartment and slept
in his bath like I did when I was a child.
Speaker 3 (24:06):
We held hands the whole night too.
Speaker 1 (24:16):
This is the first time I have asked my dad
how he remembers our reunion. He broke down in tears.
Speaker 12 (24:26):
Me.
Speaker 3 (24:30):
But if we only do it was so beautiful, he
told me. Unlike me, my dad had no fears about
a reunion.
Speaker 18 (24:50):
Physical.
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Our reunion just brought us back together physically, he says.
Speaker 11 (24:55):
Okay, see present, yes, yes, a lessons here, a little.
Speaker 3 (25:02):
We were always present in each other's mind. And that's
the essence of everything.
Speaker 2 (25:08):
Which it was assumed a care able million hour.
Speaker 3 (25:10):
Our look for.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
All that stood between us was earth and water, nothing else,
my dad told me. But I also know that my
dad was gone for some of the most difficult and
happy moments of my life. When I celebrated my King Senira,
when I started college, when I fell in love for
the first time, That irreplaceable absence marked me. It made
(25:41):
me more anxious about change, but braver to confront life's challenges.
Eleianne spent six months separated from his dad. I spent
eight years apart from mine.
Speaker 3 (26:01):
Kaku on the suada ITHINTI it told tinto.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
My stepmom baby told me every Cuban has a book
of pain. Everyone is different, but we are all the same.
To exile and separation is a scar that never fully heals. Yes,
I carry that scar with me. I imagine Elean also does.
(26:34):
But I also carry so much more in me. I
see the deep roots of my dad within me. His
inheritance is in my devotion to my work, in my
love for the water that brings me calm and focus,
in my passionate character, and how small things fulfill me,
(26:56):
like people hugging in airports, the love of a baby,
or the sunlight filtering between the trees leaves. My dad
is still the first person I call when I'm having
a bad day, and every time, like magic, he takes
me out of the stress, makes me laugh, pushes me forward.
(27:20):
Come on, MOONI you can do it, he always says.
And of course, if my dad thinks I can do something,
I know I can do it. And sometimes I wonder
what Jamiel says to Elian to help him find his center.
(28:03):
As Eleane was settling back home in Cuba, the US
was about to face another political battle in the aftermath
of the case.
Speaker 6 (28:11):
They blamed Clinton, they blamed Jenne Reno, and Gore was
Clinton's vice president.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
As the US holds the twenty twenty four presidential election
next week, we will take you back to the two
thousand election when the fate of this country was in
the hands.
Speaker 3 (28:28):
Of Miami voters. And to tell you what happened.
Speaker 1 (28:35):
In the next episode of the story, I will be
turning the mic over to my producer, you know her,
Tasha san Noli.
Speaker 6 (28:43):
What can da Mastashi Rui Sashi rely come on Manatacha Shikita.
Speaker 3 (28:49):
Tasha and Harauelita.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
That is, Tasha reflects on the Liang case with her
grandma and Miami Cuban about how the exile.
Speaker 3 (28:58):
Experience shaped her work Jess Peace.
Speaker 1 (29:26):
The Lean Gonzales Story is a production of Tuo Studios
in partnership with Iheartsmichael Gura podcast Network. This show is
written and reported by me Penni Lei Ramidez with Maria Garcia,
Nicole Rothwell, and Tasha Sandoval. Our editor is Maria Garcia.
Additional editing by Marlon Bishop. Our senior producer is Nicole Rodwell.
(29:49):
Our associate producers are Tasha Sandoval and Elisabeth Loental Torres.
Sound designed by Jacob Rosati with help from Stephanie Lebon
and our intern is Evelin Fajardo Alvarez. Our senior production
manager is Jessica Elis, with production supports from Nancy Trujillo,
Francis Poon and Lolimar Marquez. Mixing by Stephanie Levo, Julia
(30:13):
Caruso and j J Caruvin. Fat checking by Media Bautista.
Scoring and musical creation by Jacob Rossati and Stephanie Levo
and credits music from Los Aceros Or. Executive producers are
Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Legal review by Neil Rossini.
(30:33):
Huturo Media was founded by Maria Noofosa. For more podcasts,
listen to the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
listen to your favorite shows. A Penileira Mirez see you
in the next episode, Novemo Hennessey and Episodia
Host
Peniley Ramírez
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