On November 25, 1999, the story of little Elián González shocked the world when he was rescued off the coast of Florida, tied to an inner tube after surviving a shipwreck while attempting to reach the United States on a raft.
His mother died in the attempt, leaving the 5-year-old boy at the center of a legal and political battle that would mark a turning point in the relations between Washington and Havana.
Manny Díaz, the lawyer who represented Elián's family in Miami, reflected on the case 25 years later, describing it as an episode of deep sadness.
"It was yet another case of an immigrant family separated by politics," he stated in an interview with Telemundo 51.
Díaz lamented that the decisions made did not focus on the child's well-being, but rather on political interests.
"We, as lawyers, faced a struggle not only against the government of Cuba but also against our own government," he stated.
The case of the balserito triggered a diplomatic crisis between the two countries. While Elián's family in Miami, supported by the Cuban exile community, fought to keep him in the United States, his father, backed by the Cuban government, sought custody and traveled to the United States to claim him.
The litigation culminated in a court ruling that ordered the return of the child to his father.
However, Elián's return became an iconic moment when, in the early hours of Easter Sunday, federal agents conducted an operation at his relatives' home in Miami to take him back to Cuba.
The return of Elián to Cuba created deep divisions within the Cuban-American community, sparking an internal debate about the strategies and impact of exile actions on its public image.
Carlos Saladrigas, a Cuban-American businessman, recalls the case as a pivotal moment. "It made us reflect on how much harm we did to ourselves and to our image," he asserted.
The renowned journalist Wilfredo Cancio, who was on duty that November 25, 1999, recounted that from the very first moment, "a drama began to unfold that shook southern Florida for 216 days," and even the media – although lacking the influence of social networks at the time – "experienced days of schizophrenia and tension."
In his view, the tragedy of Elián "marked a turning point in the life of the exiled community, raising questions of identity for Cuban-Americans and transforming perspectives on relations with the Cuban regime among the higher political circles in Washington."
"The case sparked a sharp polarization among exiled Cubans regarding the fate of the minor, while simultaneously intensifying tense disagreements about U.S. policy and legal matters concerning Cuba," it noted in an article published in CiberCuba a few years ago.
Currently, 31-year-old Elián González is an industrial engineer and has maintained a limited public profile in Cuba. In a rare interview, he expressed his desire to visit the United States, a country that has profoundly impacted his life 25 years ago.
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