On Thanksgiving Day in nineteen ninety nine, a five year old boy floated alone in the ocean. He had lost his mother trying to reach Florida from Cuba.
Looked like a little angel. I mean, he looks so fresh.
Soon, that angelic face will be seen across the world and his name, Elian Gonzalez will make headlines everywhere.
It happens at the same time that we have the modern media machine being created, the twenty four hour news cycle.
Gonzales Alianzalas.
At the heart of the story is a young boy and the question of who he belongs with his father in Cuba.
Mister Gonzales wanted to go home, and he wanted.
To take your son with or his relatives in Miami.
Imagine that your mother died trying to get you to freedom.
This was not just any custody battle. It was also a battle between two enim nations.
Elean Coomes. Fidel hasn't gone down. Everybody's not happy about that. And by God, Fidel's not going to get this trophy.
And there was a front page picture of Jennerino and she took her sewing scissors and tore out the eyes of Generino.
He was cut in the crossfire between two governments, and not just him, all Cubans are caught in that crossfire.
At the heart of it all is still this painful family.
Separation, something that as a Cuban I know all too well. It was before a Lean and after Alian. Listen to chees Peace, the Lean Gonzalez Story from Futura Studios on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.