It is July fourteen, in the year two thousand in Cuba. The scene is green and lush, a home with trees and grass all around. A black Mercedes in a caravan pulls up and out of it emerges Fidel Castro, long salt and pepper beard hair comes back o the green military jacket. Elian's family awaits him inside the home. Smiling. Fidel kisses the woman when he greets them, he puts the children on the head, and then he gets to Elian, the first time he has ever met the famous boy.
Elian is gripping his father's hand, standing close to him. His mouth is slightly open, his eyes wide, his attention and fixed looking up.
At I have heard a lot about you, Phidel tells Ilanne, speaking in a soft boys crouching down to be closer to the.
Child, to monson, I'm a friend of your dad. Did you know that? Elien shakes his head now. Ellien's mouth is still open, like he knows something big is happening, and then Videl cracks a joke about a baby in a diaper. Alien's younger brother, I can see you. It is playful, and the family laughs. Elien does two some of his teeth are missing, like a regular six year old boy. He looks at is now his trains to look up at the tall man in the green jacket.
This moment feels revealing to me. The pastor of Elian so little looking up tall in passing Fidel looking down. Elian was back in Cua, the island where Fidel was not just a political leader, but also the person who controlled the media, public conversation, and sometimes, as I have experienced, even talks within families remembered throughout the ordeal. Alien's dad always said the same thing. He wanted Elian back in Cua. I know there is a controversy about Juamuel's true motivations,
but I do get white man so much. There is something about standing on the soil where you were born, about bathing in your homeland. It is a wish so many of US Cubans still long for. I am Penny, later Metz and this is chess peace. The Elian Gonzalez Story a production of Futura Studios in partnership with Iheart's
Michael Duda podcast network. In the US, Elian was constantly followed by cameras, but back in Cuba, he was mostly a normal kid again, mostly because there were moments like when he turned ten, when there was a big birthday celebration at his school, Elian sang and in the front row Videl Gastro looking proud. To be clear as I can remember, no other kid in Cuba, not even Castro's aunt sons, ever had a public celebration of their birthday
with Castro attending. After Castro's speech, the school children chanted his name. Back in Miami, Cuban Americans cringed at Fidel and Alien's friendship, but.
Also them on his wing. It was a shining star of the revolution. Elian became all of a sudden, you know, because Fideo had one. And that's what's so hurtful for us in Miami.
This is Alina mayoas the veteran Miami journalist you heard from earlier in the series.
You know, they keep him happy, and he's a symbol that it was good to stay, that it was good not to kind of abandon your homeland.
And here is Cuban American historian Alfere talking about older Aliens.
The whole thing is just so sad, right like, because what does it mean that he says he wants to stay in Cuba. What does that mean? You know, in what Cuba? Does he want to stay? He lives very well, I think so would he say that if he was living like a majority of people. I'm not sure.
Some of the Cuban Americans we interviewed bilieve Elian has received a special treatment from the Kuban government, but the extent of the peruks Alian's family received from Fidel Castro is hard to say. Because the Quban government denied me a journalist visa, I wasn't able to interview Alian to
ask him directly about this. But what we do know is that Elian and his family went on a two month government sponsored vacasion when the boy returned to Cuba, and that when Alian's home floated in a hurricane, they were moved to a much larger house. The government also provided bodyguards for Alian, which he described as some of his best friends in childhood. But Delian's father went back to work as a bartender. I even saw him working once in Barradero while I was on vacation with my family.
He seemed like any other person, and Elian went back to the same public school he attended before leaving Cuba. Despite the occasional attention. Eliam seemed to live a relatively normal life. He went to college where he studied industrial engineering.
When I was a professor in the university and I would see him, it was very encouraging to see that apparently he didn't have any special attention. He would behave like a normal student. You could actually miss him because there was no special treatment towards him.
This is Harold Cardinas, the Cuban journalists you have heard in previous episodes.
He was very discreet, he was very shy. I was in the trivenal took his final test in the philosophy class, and I remember him sitting there taking the test, and when I said the grade that wasn't the highest grade, I saw him look at me and he seemed like he felt he was fair.
Eleen eventually fell in love and had a daughter. He got a job at a government tourism company, and in twenty twenty three he got into politics, serving in the Kuban Congress.
That's what the exile community feared that once he's over there, as much as we didn't want to use him as a political pawn, that's what Fidel was going to do, and that's exactly what happened.
In interviews, Elean has insisted that his heart is in Cuba, that he's there because he wants to be. This is him as a young adult in a television show in Ecuador called La Cajale Pandora Alemjardo made in Peru. Another child may have chosen material things provided by the Empire, he said, as a child, I attended the Lianza in public school system in Cuba, so I am not surprised to hear Eliani us in terms like the Empire to
refer to the United States. Whether or not you think this is an accurate way to describe the US is beside the point. It is definitely language that is part of our political education, or some might say in doctrination in Cuba. It was printed in the school books we all needed to study and memorize. In the same interview in Ecuador, Elian talked about why he preferred to stay in Cuba. Don't came REFERI fendela. But on the other hand, I chose to be with my father and the and
the revolution. He also went on to say, fight for justice, liberty and world peace. Again, I remember this language from my own classes in Cuba, defending the revolution, fighting for justice. On paper, it sounds nice, right. The problem is that the same government who teaches the terms to its kids also expects them to stay quiet about the lack of press freedom and to never criticize the elections that confirmed the same Cuban Communist Party over and over again for
over six decades. Elean is aware that if he had made it to the US with his mother alive, he would have a different life. In one of the handful of interviews Elien has given as an adult, he was emotional when thinking about what could have been.
She iota bass on you.
If she had not died, maybe I would be in the United States and I would be coming to Cure frequently to visit my father. But that is not how his life turned out. He had to work within the choices or lack of them, that he had as a child, and Alien says that in Miami, when he was separated from his father, he had no choices at all. When asked about his time in the US, Ellen has said he was kidnapped.
Joe to the.
American this is a lean as a young adult. In the same interview with the media in Ecuador, but he says he's thankful for the other Americans who pushed for his return to his father. The raid when Elian was taking from the Miami house was a distressing event for a young child, but it was also what led him to be reunited with his father. To Elian, the raid was not the betrayal that it was for Cuban exiles in Miami.
We fought so hard to keep the boy here.
Here is Alena again, the Miami based journalist. Years after Elean returned to Cuba, she maintained hope he would eventually be back in Miami.
Cami naive. I always thought that little boy, somebody put a little seed in him, you know, and that seed was going to one day sprout. I thought one day he would say enough of this. I know how much they loved me in Miami.
But now with Elean as an adult, the hope has greatly diminished.
Though possibility every year dims even more because of the circumstances, because of the things he has said. You know that he doesn't believe in God. If he did, the only God he believed in was Fidel.
This is true, by the way. In the twenty seventeen c And documentary Elian said, no.
Profession Pero de Seluel, But I meanel.
It wasn't the first time he said this, Just like people spoke about his father being pressured by the Cuban government more than twenty years ago. Many Miami Cubans now seem to think the same of Ilian Joe Kemucho's I know many think I'm brainwashed, Lean said in the twenty seventeen Ciena documentary.
Pero and and went to Meatli.
But if I wanted to leave this island, I could go. Elean knows people think he will controlled by Fidel Castro. He has said it in interviews before, not for ame, but Elian said the relationship was just a friendship. He has also said he has a lot of gratitude for Castro. Here is Ada Ferede again, the Queban American historian.
It just shows this insistence on hanging on to to these platitudes and to these old categories on either side, because in Miami too, I mean, like it's either God or the devil. But come on, that's not that's not what history is, right.
And then recently, Elian said something in an interview with Cuban media that really moved me. Ua for.
San Diego, that it will be cowardly of him to leave Cuba. Yo, he said, I owe the Cuban people something.
They fought hard for me to be with my father. It will be hypocritical for me to leave. This shows there is another level of complexity here. Dailian feels in debt to his own people. Maybe it's not so much about Castro, but that it would feel wrong to leave after a whole country fought for his return. I would love to have asked him about this, but I could not.
I was not authorized by the same government. He defends in the same interview he went a step further and if I don't fight for Cuba, how will I fight for us to be better? But in reality, despite the land's convictions, things have not improved in Cuba for many people from his and my generation. Most of the kids I grew up within Cuba have left. Most of my family is now out of the island. I could visit all the people I know in Cuba just on a weekend trip, and I'm not alone. Ten percent of the
island's population. More than a million people left. Between twenty twenty two and twenty twenty.
Three, Cuba saw its largest departure of people last year since Fidel Castro's revolution in the nineteen fifties.
Agricultural production on the island dramatically decreased after COVID and stricter US sanctions have made it difficult for the country to import for supplies. This created big shortages in La Padago Can. I will not turn by back on Cuba, Elian said in a recent interview with Cuban Press. We must fight for it here. Listening to Alian makes me think of how once I felt that way too, when I was just a kid. How I once, many years ago, before I knew anything about the world outside of my island,
also believed in the propaganda. How I once believed that defending the revolution was to defend my country. Now I know my country and its government are different things. I can love Cuba without defending its government, and even still I long for the days when I lived and breathed and loved in my homeland, just like Elean is doing now. I see his interviews and he's so Cuban, his mannerisms, his accent, that things he says they also Kuanimo, something
that far from my homeland. I sometimes fear has been taking from me or not?
Really?
Another important would you like to be more Cuban? I asked my ten year old Santiago. Santiago goes by Tago. He's a sensitive and smart boy who loves to play soccer, listen to rock music, and practice his drums every day. And what would you like about being more Cuban? I asked? Well to be the cue to start with. Tago was born and has grown up mostly in Mexico. Last time I visited Cuba, I was pregnant with him. My other son was a toddler all the time, so he has
no memories of that busy either. Lunga, I don't feel very Cuban because I have never been to Cuba, he tells me. Sea. I tell him, you have been to Cuba, but he says inside my Tommy doesn't count. Of all the things that make me proud of Santiago is that, even at his young age, he's able to recognize and express his opinion, even to adults and even to me. Cula, I have never seen Cuba. Tago is right. He has
never seen the place where I was born. Tago has not walked in my beautiful Havana where I spent my life until I was born teen. I left Cuba because I wanted to be closer to my dad, my mom, who also left my brothers, and the rest of my family. But it came with a price, very limited access to Cuba, to the place that once was home. I can visit the island as a tourist, not as a journalist, but even as a tourist, I suspect the government could be monitoring my work or my Twitter account, and I can
be called in for questioning while on the island. To be honest, I have been a bit scared to go back for that reason. But I was excited to visit Cuba for this podcast. My husband and my sons even wanted to come along. Jorge, my oldest who goes by Koke, was looking forward to it.
Less to It's okay, Simpremius Kumano.
You have always talked about Cuba so much that I crave to go, Coca says, this is the sacrifice I paid to live the life I wanted. That my children do not know my homeland, they don't identify as Cuban, but I still see glimpses of Cuba, and my kids like when they are a little naughty and sacno when they are frustrated or surprised. It is a swear word, but I love when I hear them saying it. I recently told my dad about it. I told my dad how happy it made me. It is in the blood.
My dad said, okay. My oldest is twelve years old. He loves reading, so he speaks very proper, like a little adult. He told me something I had not realized. He noticed. He told me he saw what the similarity was between Alan's story and mine. Passion familiar, tramitil, tramitielramite, a complicated family separation, except Elean was reunited with his family in Cuba and I was reunited with my family
in the United States after many years. Yo, tengo the better, not than I got the possibility to shoot where I live, what I say, what I do for a living, how to make money. But Liang got something I didn't, Misi, Who's the second? I missed so many things, like the sound of the drums down the street from my Grandma's house and the salt on my nose when we walk in a malekon. I missed the frank and direct a way people speak in Cuba, even if we're considered rude
by people from abroad. I miss that feeling of belonging, of not needing to explain myself. Once I was in a club in New Orleans dancing with my husband, and the singer, who did not know me, said, let's cheer for the Cuban dancer we have tonight. I asked her how she knew I'm Cuba. Only Cubans can dance like you, girl.
She said.
I treasure that moment, Miki, after all. During one of his rare interviews with US media as an adult, Alien said something I agreed with.
I want to then punto Herita Ferente boy, still.
Differentia Politic is a band.
Everyone can hold different ideological and political views. But we don't have to be separated as people, he said.
Is a Bandla familia.
We don't have to be separating families. He said. I am grateful I'm not separated from my children and that I can pass down my heritage to Cuban music like Silvia Rodriez. For example. Now my son Koke is a fan of Silvia's love songs.
It is common deskuriminental kisimprestuo kurito.
Cuban music, and Silvia was a discovery that was hidden in me. Kok recently told me. For many Cuban exiles in the United States, even mentioned in Silvio is taboo, as he is considered a defender of the Cuban Revolution for many years. But I grew up listening to him. He is part of the story of my life and the life of many other Cubans. And then there is the literature. I am remarried and divorced from the father
of my sons. So when Koka spends time with his dad and he misses me, he reads Leda Deo, the most famous book of the Cuban poet and independence hero Jose martizim is a li It is a book that means a lot for many Cubans, and it is also the book that Videl Castro gave to Elian upon his return to Cuba. My son Coke doesn't care about the political uses of the book. He just cares that it
reminds him of me. Miami, Yesusta, and I asked him, when we go to Miami together and you see me in my Cuban and element dancing, eating my favorite meals, recovering full in my accent, do you like Italy. It's it's so pleasant to see you that way. Gok tells me. It's like being home. It's so natural. I remember from when I was a baby. I hear my children and I recognize what they are telling me. Remember the word Coke used when he said he wanted to go to Cuba.
Com He said he had that craving to go. Craving develops from having something and then wanting it again, remembering what it tastes like in your mouth. Something in Cocay longs for Cuba, maybe even recognizes it, just like Cuban music, a discovery that was already inside. My son said. And when they see me dancing salsa, Kogi told me, come on, start coming, it's like being home. It is my hole that one day my children will experience Cuba like a
Lian's child has. That one day there will be no need for families or people to separate like a lean, said Liza Bandor. We don't need to keep separating people. We don't need more kids growing up without their parents, and we don't need your politics telling us how to live.
I dream about a day when the water's between my homeland and my new home will not represent a wound, a divide in line between people's But until then, Cuba, my homeland, is inside of me, in my music, my books, my accent, my beliefs, and to my children, I am Cuba, a Cuba that they have come to love, even from the other side of the ocean. And Lean survived jess Peace Belian Gonzales Story is a production of Utuda Studios
in partnership with Iheart's Michael Tura podcast Network. This show is written and reported by me Pennilei Ramdez with Maria Garcia, Nicole Rothwell, and Tasha Sandoval. Our editor is Maria Garcia, additional editing by Marlon Bishop. Our senior producer is Nicole Rothwell. Our associate producers are Tasha Sandoval and Elisabeth Loental Torres. Sound designed by Jacob Rosati with help from Julia Caruso,
and our intern is Evely Fajardo Alvares. Our senior production manager is Jessica Elis, with production supports from Nancy to Hillo, Francis Poon and Lodimar Martuez. Mixing by Stephanie Levo, Julia Caruso and j J Caruvin, fat checking by Media Bautista, Scoring and musical creation by Jacob Rossati and Stephanielevo and credits music from Los Aceros or. Executive producers are Marlon Bishop and Maria Garcia. Legal review by Neil Rossini. Whuturo
Media was founded by Maria Inovosa. 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, Henessey and Episodia. To end this season of Chess Peace, we are going to bring you bonus content this next two weeks. Extended the interviews from or reputting of the Lian Gonzales story. Next week, I am co hosting with Tasha Sandoval and we are discussing
how the Lian saga impacted the Quban exiled community. See you then for our first bonus episode. Novemo episode of the Bonus