What person over the age of about 40 doesn’t remember this terrifying news photo of a five-year-old Cuban boy being removed from his relatives’ home in Miami, Florida, to be sent back to his father in Cuba?

His mother had tried to escape the Castro regime with Elian in November 1999, planning to join family members already living in the U.S. Those were the days when boatloads of desperate Cuban citizens risked everything to make the treacherous water crossing to Florida. Elian’s boat capsized, his mother and others drowned; but a few survived, including Elian, who was rescued by two fishermen.

He was taken in by his paternal granduncle, Lazaro Gonzalez, who wanted to keep him in the U.S. But Elian’s father, Juan Miguel Gonzalez Quintana, fought to have him returned home to Cuba. After a protracted legal battle between the two men, which involved both U.S. and Cuban officials, Elian was forcefully taken from his granduncle’s home by Immigration officials and returned to his father, stepmother and baby half-brother in Cuba.

Elian’s story was followed in the news for some time, showing him growing and thriving in a loving household, and being treated as something of a folk hero by the Castro regime. Eventually, of course, his story became old news, and the world (and I) lost track of Elian.

Until yesterday, that is, when his name cropped up in, of all places, a crossword puzzle. Remembering the heart-rending story of the adorable little boy, I did some checking to see what Elian has been up to over the past 26 years, and found that — as was predicted at the time of his return — he became a product of the Cuban communist regime, saying in a 2005 interview on 60 Minutes that Fidel Castro was considered “not only as a friend but as a father.” It is also reported that the following year, when Castro was unable to attend Elian’s 13th birthday party, he sent his brother Raul instead. [Wikipedia biography, as of June 9, 2026.]

Elian, now 32, joined the Young Communist Union of Cuba in June 2008, and began military school at age 15. In 2013, he described his time in the United States as “very sad times for me, which marked me for my whole life,” and blamed the U.S. Cuban Adjustment Act for denying him his rights, including “the right to be together with my father, the right to keep my nationality and to remain in my cultural context.” [Id.]

Spoken like a good little communist.

Elian holds a degree in industrial engineering from the University of Matanzas, and is now an elected member of the National Assembly of People’s Power — Cuba’s supreme (and only) governmental authority.

So while the rest of the world may have forgotten about Elian Gonzalez over the years, the Cuban government did not. He received a good education, and is apparently on his way to a successful political career.

But how do you suppose Elian feels about the U.S. government today? Does he ever think that, if he had been allowed to remain with his granduncle and become an American citizen, he might now be a member of the U.S. Congress? Or, conversely, he could as easily be one of the people targeted by the Trump administration for de-naturalization?

How must he feel when he hears Donald Trump boasting about taking over his “shithole” country (Trump’s word, not mine)? What would his reaction be if he — and his fellow countrymen — were to wake up one morning and find that their homeland had just become a territory of the United States?

Granted, Cuba is a nation with enormous political, economic and social problems. But it is their country, and as far as I know, it has not been offered for sale. Threatening to take it by force is no different than what Russia has been doing to Ukraine. What Cuba needs is assistance, not forced assimilation into a different culture.

*. *. *

Seeing Elian’s name in print yesterday and being reminded of his life story has made Trump’s threats feel much more personal than merely geopolitical. And, while Trump doesn’t concern himself with such trivia as the effect of his actions on ordinary people, in reality it is all about the people.

Are the citizens of Cuba living their best life? In most cases, probably not. But would they be better off living under a Trump-led regime?

Maybe we should ask Elian Gonzalez.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
6/10/26