Who is Elián Gonzalez? Everything You Need to Know

Quick Facts

Also Known As: Elián González Brotons

Age: 30 Years, 30 Year Old Males

Family:

father: Juan Miguel González

mother: Elizabet Brotons

Born Country: Cuba

Cuban Men Sagittarius Men

Notable Alumni: University Of Matanzas

More Facts

education: University of Matanzas

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Childhood & Early Life

Born on December 6, 1993, in Cárdenas, Cuba, Elián is the son of Juan Miguel González Quintana and the late Elizabeth Brotons Rodríguez. His parents divorced at some point.

On November 21, 1999, Elián, his mother, her boyfriend, and several others boarded a small aluminium boat with a faulty engine and made their departure from Cuba. Their destination was the United States.

Eilan’s mother, along with ten others, perished during the crossing. Elian and two other passengers survived. They were found by two fishermen who took them to the US Coast Guard.

He was eventually put under the care of his paternal great-uncle, Lázaro, by the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). ‘The Washington Post’ reported that when Juan Miguel came to know that Elizabeth had left Cuba with their son, he reached out to Lázaro and requested him to keep an eye out for them.

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Legal Battles

Empowered by the support of local Cuban Americans, Lázaro announced that he wanted to keep the boy in the United States. Lázaro’s adult daughter, Marisleysis González, served as Elián’s caretaker and spokesperson for the paternal relatives.

Another spokesperson for the relatives was Armando Gutierrez, a local Cuban American businessman. Meanwhile, Juan Miguel had managed to garner the support of the Cuban government and asked that his son be sent back to Cuba.

On January 21, 2000, Elián González's grandmothers, Mariela Quintana and Raquel Rodríguez, came to US to take the boy back to Cuba. During their visit, they saw the boy only once. They also travelled to Washington, D.C., where they spoke to several congressmen and Attorney General Janet Reno. Their nine-day visit garnered intense media coverage. When they went back to Cuba, they received “a hero’s welcome”.

Elián’s relatives in Florida refuted the claims that they had promised Juan Miguel a house and a car if he immigrated to US as well. Juan Miguel had no intention of leaving Cuba.

On March 21, 2000, Judge Kevin Michael Moore of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida ruled that no one but the boy’s father could petition for asylum on his behalf.

On 14 April, 2000, a video was put out in which Elián said that he wanted to stay in US. However, many believed that he had been taught to say that.

In 2005, in an interview with ‘60 Minutes’, Elián revealed that his relatives had told him “bad things about his father” and tried to convince him that he did not want to return to Cuba.

Involvement of US Federal Authorities

Attorney General Reno instructed the relatives to hand over Elián to his father by April 13, 2000, but they refused. A Florida family court judge subsequently took away Lázaro's temporary custody.

The relatives threatened violence if the federal authorities came to their property to take the boy. On 22 April 2000, over a hundred federal agents conducted the raid and secured Elián.

Reunion with His Father

Elián saw his father again four hours after the raid at Andrews Air Force Base. The following day, a photograph showing a smiling Elián with his father, stepmother, and half-brother was published by the White House. The relatives said it was not the real Elián in the picture. While Elián and his father were in US, the relatives tried every legal option available to them.

On June 1, 2000, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the ruling of the US District Court. On 28 June, the US Supreme Court denied the relatives’ request to hear the case. On the same day, Elián travelled back to Cuba.

Later Years

Elián was raised by his father and stepmother in Cárdenas. In 2015, it was revealed that he had plans of marrying his high-school sweetheart. He graduated with a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Matanzas in July 2016 and was subsequently hired as a technology specialist at a state-run company that supplies large plastic water tanks.

In Popular Culture

In the 2000 telefilm ‘A Family In Crisis: The Elián Gonzales Story’, Elián was portrayed by Alec Roberts while Esai Morales played Juan Miguel. A documentary film called ‘Elián’, which contains exclusive interviews with Elián and his family in both Cuba and US, was released in 2017.

Elián Gonzalez Biography